Kyoudai
by asphalt-pirate
Summary: Im ALIVE! Ch 18 up! ADVENT CHILDREN SPOILERS! When Kadaj survives the ultimate battle, both he and Cloud must face the fact one cannot choose one’s family. Now everyone must come to terms with the effects and responsibilities created by the Jenova Project
1. An Altered State of Destiny

**Warning:** Advent Children Spoilers abound! Do not read if you don't want the story to be spoiled!

**Story notes:** Takes off directly after the defeat of Sephiroth, continues in a different direction from there. May turn Yaoi-ish later, I haven't decided yet. Knowing me, it will. No non-cannon characters of any importance and no Mary-sues, so have no fear. Please R&R:D

**Author's requests regarding reviews: **I'd appreciate if people didn't ask me questions about the plot in their reviews. Obviously I have a reason for everything I write, and all will be explained in time. I'm not going to tell you before I'm ready, just because you're burning with curiosity now, or think I'm doing something weird. Just bear with it, and all shall be revealed.

Also, if you have a specific suggestion, such as a specific spelling or a factual mistake that I can edit and rectify, please don't put it in a review. As soon as I fix it, that review becomes obsolete, but it remains in the list, no use to anyone who wants to know the quality of my writing, and unfairly upping my review count. I've posted my e-mail address on my profile now, so you can just pop a message on over to me on things like that. Thanks:D (Oh, and do feel free to e-mail me about the story, FFVII, or Advent Children over all, I'd love to chat! 3 )

**End Notes – Begin Story**

_- IYAAA! -_

Kadaj's scream was soundless, to all the world around them, nothing but a pain-wracked echo inside his skull as the spirit of Sephiroth tore away from him, soaring upward as his own broken form fell heavily, back down to the wreckage of the earth. He barely caught himself on hands and knees, blood pouring from wounds sustained by a god, now bourn by a mortal body.

Enraged at this abuse, this abandonment, by both Sephiroth and Jenova, Kadaj did all he could to summon the last of his strength and charge the only possible target on which he could do some violence. His opponent was already expecting the attack, but neither man expected that Kadaj's strength and will would fail him. But in reality, he was only still a child after all…

Surprisingly, even to Cloud himself, he abandoned his blades as he watched Kadaj stumble, instinctively knowing that the show of weakness was not a feint, and caught the wounded boy in mid-fall. Kneeling slowly, he cradled his would-be assassin in his own arms, only noticing now the slight tremor in his own limbs. The ghost of the fight still in him, but now events had seemed to completely change their face, and it required of Cloud an entirely different strength than the ordeal finished only moments before.

Kadaj was incredibly light and limp, and at this proximity, for once not engaged in battle with the boy, Cloud was able to see clearly just how tragically young and soft this fallen warrior was. His own pale lips parted in a silent, surprised sigh, he locked eyes with Kadaj with as much intensity as he could, seeing the other man's gaze looking hazy and wandering.

"Niisan…" Confusion, amazement, and longing filled the faltering voice, none of the pain and anger from mere moments before. The dying man tried to lift a hand to touch the stoic would-be-Soldier's face, but failed in the attempt, not only weakened by battle, but also for playing host to a greedy, ravenous, power-hungry soul which had had no intentions of returning Kadaj's body to him. Cloud caught the slipping hand though, squeezed it tightly in his own and watched those silver lashes flicker wider.

"Hold on, Kadaj," the sound of great propeller blades slicing through the chilled Midgar sky was growing louder behind them, Cid's new Sierra air-craft coming to aid the victorious hero. A hero who had lain to waste this gasping, weeping child. Makou-tinged rain dropped thick and wetly from the sky, the Planet crying for all the continued suffering in this wasted city, disguising the damp streaks already disappearing back into Kadaj's lank silver hair, though Cloud did not add to these any of his own. "Suman… Otouto…"

"E-eh…?" Kadaj pulled the focus of his fading jadeite eyes back in onto Cloud Strife's burning cerulean blue, not certain he'd truly heard the familial endearment issued from Cloud's lips, the air-ship was now almost upon them and it could have been nothing more than a trick of the wind and a dying man's desperate imagination, but the soft nod from the other young man erased his doubt, and Kadaj regathered inside himself all his strength, and a will to live. A small and utterly beguiling smile, so gentle and full of innocence, crept its way across his smooth and trembling lips as he returned the conviction in the nod. "Un," and closed his hand around Cloud's weakly.

Tifa had expected to be the first one to run down the Sierra's loading ramp, to fly out to greet and congratulate her victorious friend, but such was not the way in which fate had decreed things would proceed. Rather than speeding down to Cloud, she and the rest of their companions aboard the Sierra were surprised to find Cloud quickly striding up to meet them, their here-to-fore tenacious adversary cradled in his arms, pressed close against his chest.

Blood spattered the metal gangway as Cloud rushed aboard the airship, leaving a gruesome trail in the hero's wake, a testament to the ferocity of their epic battle. The silver-haired man held in Cloud's arms was now pale and translucent as alabaster, a visible tremor coursing about his lithe frame, sharp eyes, the same clear aqua of the Life Stream itself darting about all the collected party cautiously, expecting any moment another swift attack. Cloud, he knew now, he could trust, but from these people he had no reason to expect anything but hostility. Kadaj was very well aware that in the eyes of these people, _he_ was the bad-guy.

Before anyone could ask questions, Cloud started in commanding them. The air-ship was large enough, it had to have some manner of first-aid infirmary, and Cloud wanted them in the air as quickly as possible and headed in the direction of the Healin Lodge. Most recently devoted almost entirely to the study of Geostigma, and a search for its cure, the Lodge had previously served to treat the massive population of wounded Midgarites, after the catastrophic destruction wrought upon the metropolitan city by the Weapons, Meteor, and Holy. The only person who managed any pre-emptive interjection was Yuffie, a brief, incredulous cry of, "Uso!" before Cloud was directing everything.

Cid, not about to argue with, or question the motivations of the man who had just single handedly defeated the Legendary Soldier Sephiroth – yet again – did as he was bade with only moderately profane grumbling, returning quickly to the Sierra's flight deck to get her air-born again. One of the ships many crew members immediately volunteered herself as a guide to emergency first aid, and was leading Cloud deeper into the body of the Sierra, with no need for him to even pause in walking.

Most of the others, compatriots in the cause of what had once been AVALANCHE, stayed behind in the loading bay, shock and uncertainty keeping them grounded where they were, glancing at one another uncomfortably and wondering what the outcome of this strange seeming rescue would be. Tifa was on Cloud's heels immediately though, and after only a brief pause to ensure the rest wouldn't break out into fits over it, Vincent also disappeared swiftly and silently through the bulk head door and out into the hall. Though out of sight of them, he didn't even need his excellent hearing to know where to go. Kadaj's blood made for a disquieting sort of bread-crumb trail, a bright crimson arrow pointing the way.

Apparently some one had already notified the ship's medics that something severe was on the way, as the party walked in to find a bed being hastily prepped, disinfectants, pain-killers, sutchers and bandages being prepared on a near-by tray. The grave young man pulling on the latex gloves when Vincent entered was informing them that air-ships like the Sierra were not always the safest working conditions for people, that medical attention really had to be there on hand. That the Captain was a brilliant designer and did his best to safe-guard everything he assured them most emphatically, but the cost of the first-aid room was a small price insurance, and now apparently well worth the paying.

There wasn't a great deal they could do for Kadaj here. For the most part they simply did all they could to staunch the bleeding and make the boy as comfortable as possible upon the stiff antiseptic bed. Cloud, Tifa and Vincent, all three stood still and silent against the bulkhead near the door while the medics worked, Cloud and Vincent's eyes both locked upon the patient, Tifa's worried chocolate gaze flickering between all three men. She was highly uneasy about this, but couldn't bring herself to speak up in the presence of their enemy. Surely it was too cold to say such a thing even to a villain's face, that you thought it better off that person didn't live…?

Though still frighteningly pale and wane, Kadaj seemed to be fairing at least a little better now, trying not to let himself gasp and wince. Though obviously aware of the other occupants of the little room, he seemed only interested in keeping his eyes on Cloud, as if his very soul was anchored here only by the simultaneously fierce and yet serene blue glow suffused inside Cloud's eyes.

As the medics began to clear away and clean their implements, the gradual dropping sensation of the Sierra cruising down made everyone feel lighter, like an elevator dropping just a little too fast, and Tifa in her apprehension thought for a moment that she might actually lose contact with the floor and fly apart, though rationally she knew that wasn't true. Kadaj also seemed to experience the same sort of desperate moment, though, perhaps fearing he'd lost touch with his body rather than the ground, and in his silky, silver voice gasped out, "Niisan!"

He was calmed, instantly though, by a firm nod from Cloud. "Just a few more moments, Otouto."

Vincent didn't seem to react, but Tifa's eyes went round.

**Author's remarks**: End of the introductory chapter. I hope it has sufficiently whet your appetites for more of this story-line. I simply adore Kadaj too much not to write my own AU with him surviving in it, and the prospects of his survival are too vast to let be. Please let me know what you think so far, and I'll try to get the next installment in very soon!

**Translations:**

Niisan – Older brother, as a "name."

Suman – Contraction of "Sumimasen" or "I'm sorry." Manly talk, that. ;)

Uso! – No way!

Otouto – Little brother.


	2. Suspicious Circumstances

There were medical assistants waiting with a stretcher as soon as the Sierra had landed. The medics aboard the air-ship had only just finished tacking down the bandages when Shin-Ra's men boarded to take the wounded man into the Healin Lodge. Kadaj's defenses flew up again immediately, and noticeably to all present, as soon as the company medics entered, but under Cloud's silent coercion he allowed them to load him on to the gurney and take him out of the air-ship.

As they made their way through the halls of the craft, Kadaj watched the overhead lights pass above him, one by one. The sound of footsteps echoed all around him, overlapping, a round of sound that he had a hard time tracking. Where was his older brother in all of it? Somewhere just behind him, he thought, most of the time. The footsteps of that stoic man in red were distinctive, but surprisingly difficult to catch. All he wanted to hear though, was Cloud. He had find that step…

Cloud walked directly behind the medic at Kadaj's head. Next to him, Tifa kept up with uneven steps, flicking glances at him still, needing to talk alone with him, knowing that it would be some time before she could get him to come away… The silver-haired youth was still such an unknown element. There was no way they could leave him alone, even under the care of Shin-Ra. He'd shown amazing resourcefulness, and even on the brink of death, Tifa didn't trust him not to try something. Actually, especially near death, Tifa thought it likely the boy would react violently if provoked. Even in the slightest.

"Cloud…" she couldn't help but try and catch his attention, if only for a moment, as they exited the ship into the light of day. Difficult to think that less than an hour ago these skies had been black and blotted with impending doom… But Cloud's gaze was fixed so steadily on the man on the gurney, it took a second evocation to finally get him to glance at her. The small nod she received was slightly reassuring, she'd get an explanation from him soon. But, in her way of seeing it, not nearly soon enough.

President Rufus Shin-Ra was already waiting to greet them as they came into the lodge through the emergency bay. He stood, straight and tall, the same confident Shin-Ra Tifa remembered meeting at the top of the Shin-Ra building two years previous. The smirk on his face as he watched Kadaj wheeled toward him was enough to remove the slight comfort she'd felt only a moment before. For a moment, she felt a strange flash of concern for the man upon the stretcher…

Catching sight of the company president, fully healed when he himself was laid low, Kadaj felt more than just a flash of concern for himself. The panic that seized his chest struck into his physical wounds as well, and he gasped aloud his pain, sneering as he caught that ghost of a smirk haunting the edges of the president's soft young mouth. "Okaeri, Kadaj… We'll take good care of you."

The rest of the party had disembarked after them and were catching up quickly. As they collected within the entrance, Tseng, who flanked the president close at his right hand, directed them toward a door off the main hall. "If you would, the waiting-room is through here…"

"I'm going with him," Cloud did not stop until Rude and Reno tried to stand in his way, the young warrior fixing them with a look that made both men draw up uncomfortably.

"Please, Cloud. This is a sterile facility, then!" Reno was doing his best to seem amiable still as he blocked the shorter man, but he'd been given an order… one he wasn't entirely certain he could carry out though, given what had happened back in Midgar. They had only arrived at the lodge moments before Cloud and his gang, so they knew that this man, this one man, had single handedly defeated Shin-Ra's greatest fighter. Could a couple TURKs really stand in his way?

Luckily, they didn't have to test it. Rufus waved them down. "Only him." Kadaj was already struggling against the medical assistants as they delayed the would-be SOLDIER. The last thing Rufus wanted was for this special creature to expire, steps away from medical help, because he refused to be parted from Cloud. Why that seemed to be a condition of Kadaj's compliance, he couldn't guess, but it wouldn't cause any harm. Not now in the beginning of things, and it was actually a welcome bit of insurance.

Tifa was not at all pleased to be separated from Cloud either though, not at all pleased to let him walk into the bowels of a Shin-Ra facility, accompanied only by company thugs and a genocidal maniac. Barret didn't seem any happier about it, less even, and Yuffie and Cid looked like they were about to give Rufus hell. But Vincent brushed past all of them, having dropped behind slightly as they arrived, and took the door Tseng had indicated, without argument.

A loner, usually, he still managed to inspire others to follow him at strange moments, something of the former TURK still a part of him. After a moment's hesitation for an exchange of cold and mistrusting glances, the rest of the party followed him inside, Rude and Reno flanking them.

The hallway to the waiting room was long and narrow, and curved about the rotund building, lined with pine wood doors on one wall, the occasional picture window with lavish view of wooded hills set into the other. They were being lead away from the facility's operational rooms and laboratories, into sections dedicated more to out-patient visits and doctors' personal offices. The waiting room itself was quite comfortable and moderately spacious, pleasantly decorated to reflect the earthy feel of the terrain surrounding the lodge, rather than a sterile medical fashion.

Despite the exchange of clinical aqua-greens for nature's mossy tones, none of them felt any less apprehension at being told to wait. Rather than taking up seats in the soft leather bench-chairs provided for patients' family and guardians, most of them opted to stay standing near the walls, Barret even pacing angrily, though Nanaki did curl himself up on a carpeted portion of the floor.

Rather than stand proper sentry at the door as they probably should have, the two TURKs did make themselves comfortable in the chairs, Rude with a cool sobriety, Reno sprawling helter skelter with his usual irreverent abandon. The brilliant red head tossed his gaze around the tense company curiously, having not seen many of these people in nearly two years, trying to remember names and who he might have offended, before stopping on a certain automated plush-toy. "Reeve… I will never understand why you don't have kids, if you like this kind of thing then."

The little toy cat looked up at the TURK with the most adorable sort of scowl, the cartoonish voice that issued from the fuzzy muzzle a sharp contrast to the deep power-business tones of the man behind the controls, for which Reno found it deathly hard not to break down into giggles, "Hey! Don't talk to the man behind the curtain! You'll ruin all the fun! This is Cait Sith. Cait Sith, y'know?"

"Okay, okay! However you want it, Little Guy," he buried his mouth into the collar of his shirt for a moment, still on the brink of just losing it until the Lockhart girl strode over, practically standing right over him. It was obvious she didn't think this was the time for joking and it looked like she was going to be expecting some answers from him.

"Reno. The man we brought in here…"

"Kadaj," he nodded to her.

"Kadaj…" Tifa seemed to lose herself on the name a moment, an identity given to what was, moments before, a completely unknown entity. She shook it off quickly though, focusing back in on him. "Will they really be able to save him?" Her words had an uncertain character about them, that same discomfort with the half-hope their enemy would die.

Brainless as he could often seem, Reno wasn't dull. He caught the sentiment in her intonation and sobered up respectively. "Yes. This is one of the most advanced medical facilities on the Planet, and Kadaj, though unstable, is far from weak. We've had too many encounters with him and his gang to underestimate that. If he's made it this far…"

The dark-haired girl nodded gravely, folding her arms beneath her chest in a way that Reno couldn't help but notice pushed her ample breasts up quite nicely. He did his best to keep from smirking though, so she wouldn't catch him looking. He silently lamented that the cut of her shirt wasn't more revealing…

"And what about those others?"

Yes! She wasn't noticing, just going on with her mild interrogation. Reno propped one arm over the chair-back in confident nonchalance, and while Rude answered and distracted Tifa's attention, kept on ogling. "Demolished." The finality in Rude's deep voice was tinged with a well deserved pride.

"Courtesy of the TURKs. Rude's explosives left nothing but a few scraps of twisted metal from their motorcycle." Reno continued before Tifa could interrupt with her uncertainties. "There was no way they escaped us. We'd have seen them if they retreated back into the tunnel, and even given their abilities, there is no way they made it through that blast. Yazoo and Loz. They were strong, but there's a reason Kadaj was leading them, then."

It was obvious the rest of the room didn't put as much faith in Rude's pyrotechnics as his compatriot did, but no one had a chance to call him on that count. From a far corner, amazingly unobtrusive for his ostentatious appearance in burnished gold accents and tattered crimson cape, Vincent's midnight velveteen voice swept like a shadow over the room. "Well then, Reno. Why don't you explain to us what that reason is…?"

The current TURK shot the former a highly surprised and uncomfortable glance, and the glare from Rude seemed to indicate Reno'd already flapped his lip a little more than he should have.

With a quiet snarl and a nervous tug at his rumpled shirt-front, Reno carefully chose his words…

**Author's remarks: ** I know! I know! I haven't properly explained everything yet. But understand, I love cliff hangers. :D I'll come back around to things like Denzel and the Geostigma and all that jazz as the story progresses. Otanoshimi ni! Ne?

**Translations: **

Okaeri – "Welcome back." Short form of "Okaerinasai."

Demo watashi no toku ni itta koto ha mada nihongo wo shiranai hito ni fushigi toshite oiteru. :D


	3. Flies on the Walls

Once past Rufus and his goons, Cloud made certain to stay right along side the rolling gurney as the medics made their way quickly into a clean operating room. It was an uncomfortable atmosphere, too sterile, all brushed steel and what Cloud was certain was bullet-proof glass surrounding everything. Shin-Ra's characteristic habit of heightened security. It was all too reminiscent Shin-Ra Tower's now surely ruined laboratories, and any moment he expected to see the frightful figure of Professor Hojo come stalking around the pressure locked sliding doors.

Foolish thoughts. That man was dead. Cloud himself, along with Tifa, and of course Vincent, had dispatched the vile crack-pot of a genetic scientist long ago. He'd watched Vincent personally use the final level of his grizzly talent for inhuman transformations to lay waste to the monster who'd caused so much pain for all of them… He admitted to himself, he'd have relished being able to boast the death blow, given the torturous time he'd spent in Hojo's clutches, revenge for what the bastard did to him and to Zack… but he had a feeling, whatever Vincent had endured, it had lasted far, far longer and been unspeakably worse. Whatever the outcome, Cloud had gotten his own licks in. It was enough.

No, all the doctors assembling in the operating room seemed honest enough of character to Cloud, though he couldn't get a perfect sense through their sterile scrubs and operating masks. He looked to Kadaj, to gauge how the boy was doing now that aid was certain, seeing him disoriented, uncomfortable, but not as nearly as panicked as before. Cloud tried to decide if the lack of fear indicated a downturn in his condition, but though the doctors and nurses moved with urgency, their behavior didn't seem to indicate things were going badly, or that the boy was by any means a lost cause.

Moved to a proper operating bed, the gurney Kadaj had been brought in on was wheeled out, and the emergency paramedics slipped quietly away. Cloud stationed himself out of the way, against one of the thick glass and steel walls within Kadaj's line of sight, though it looked as though they'd soon have him under sedation. They'd slipped an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth, which he'd only weakly tried to avoid, and were unwrapping his wounds with careful rapidity, so they could begin to really treat him.

"Amazing…" Cloud tilted his head slightly as one of the nurses made the quiet, awed exclamation. "You can already see the scar tissue forming at the edges… My god, who did this to him…?"

No reason for doctors to know the finer details, Cloud was sure they'd only been told they'd be receiving a patient severely wounded in a grueling duel of bladed weapons. Cloud wasn't about to avail himself as the attacker, though he noticed Kadaj's gaze fix with a slightly stronger purpose on him. There wasn't really blame in that look though, not that Cloud could see. More so, it was just that the question happened to accurately indicate Cloud, and that had brought Kadaj's attention focused back in on him.

"Cut the chit-chat, we need to make sure he'll be able to recover from this properly. No room for mistakes. If he ends up handicapped because we screw up, the President will personally be handing our asses back to each and every one of us."

Interesting… Then they'd also been informed this was a high-profile patient they were working on. … But why would Rufus be so concerned with Kadaj's well being…? Cloud severely doubted that the president of Shin-Ra Corp. had really come to the same understanding of their enemy that Cloud had. Too many unanswered questions. And now that they weren't in the midst of battle, Cloud was beginning to have time to consider them. Shin-Ra's attitude had seemed to change since the break-down of their Planet-wide empire… but how much, if actually at all, and what were their _real_ intentions?

Kadaj had called himself the Avatar of Jenova. The manifestation of her will. But Jenova had never done anything by her own strength, since her defeat by the Cetra over two thousand years ago, not so far as Cloud knew. She'd always worked through the mistakes and weaknesses of others, and Shin-Ra had been one of her most potent tools.

"Wait a minute… he's actually bleeding!"

"Huh?" Cloud was ripped from his train of thought by the voice of a youthful nurse, standing not all that far away from him. The surgeons surrounding Kadaj were well into their procedures by now, and didn't pay the stray nurse any real mind, but an intern handing off medical equipment took notice and squinted at Cloud through his rimless oval glasses. "You're right. I thought it was just blood from the patient, but that spot's soaking all the way through…"

The nurse reached up and touched the ribbed knit shirt, pulling aside the torn bit to take a look at the wound. "You were starting to get pale… but you were standing there so tough, I didn't think it could possibly be from watching the doctors work. Here, sit down." She pulled a round stool out from under the counter close by, giving him a gentle push into it. He thought to protest at first, but since she was going to look at it here, he didn't fight. "Uah… It goes all the way through, look at the wall…"

Glancing up there was indeed a blotch of darkish red against the glass he'd leaned against. He grimaced slightly, remembering the cold, familiar feeling of Masamune spearing his flesh… In the shoulder, that bastard… It hadn't been a miss.

"If you could take off your jacket and armor. What's your blood-type?" The nurse moved away to an intercom set close to the door in the wall, paging some other doctor by an unmemorable name to come to their operating room and help with a patient. Cloud watched her for a moment, until she turned back to look at him expectantly, replying to her question as he complied with her instructions at last. "AB."

"Right, then. We'll get you fixed up. You two must have been through something fierce!" He didn't answer, only waited for the doctor and watched as she brought in another IV kit with blood and saline. Kadaj was already hooked up to one, his colour looking a little better, but the nurse's assessment, "something fierce," was more than a bit of an understatement, and Cloud imagined it would be at least some time before Kadaj really recovered. It sounded as though his body was, perhaps, healing rapidly – and while that was good for the boy's chances, it unsettled Cloud with its possible implications… – but after what he'd gone through? Cloud could not imagine one so young bouncing back easily from that.

Local anesthetic didn't make it much less irritating to have Shin-Ra doctors poking around inside his skin, but Cloud sat and bore it silently, the nurse still chattering pointlessly to him now and then. She had to be new, if she was this compassionate, but her well-meaning conversation might have had him miss something crucial, if Cloud had actually been paying any attention to it.

Crouched over Kadaj, stitching up long gashes, closing ruptured veins and arteries, two of the doctors took up their own quiet conversation, despite the head-surgeons original admonishment against it. Well, it looked like he'd found a reason to step outside for a moment or two, anyway.

"What about the other two?"

"No good. Though they'll be right in here if we manage to find them. Apparently the TURKs didn't handle things too very gently…"

"You've got you're cell-phone going under your scrubs again, don't you? The Doc'll have your head if he sees the cord to the ear-bud."

"No cord, new model. Cost a fortune, but you know how things with the wife are."

"It's not good for the equipment, but do as you like. Anyway. Looks like this one will make it after all. If the other two are in any similar shape though, they won't be coming here if they find them. They'll be taking them straight to the morgue… Look at this… There's barely any reason for stitches. Have you seen anything like this before?"

"Not outside of a Petri dish… Could they do this before…?"

"I don't think so… but then, they never let them get this banged up, as far as I know…"

"Severe stress reaction then?"

"Mmm… Maybe."

That was the end of it though, they both shut there mouths as soon as "the Doc" came back in. Kadaj was almost certainly oblivious to everything said over him though, his unbelievable jade eyes only sickle slits beneath his silver lashes. Between the pain and the anesthesia, he was obviously conscious, but far, far away from here. Not even an occasional flutter indicated he was aware of sound or movement, only the rise and fall of his chest and the accompanying bleeps of the monitors surrounding them attested he was alive.

When his own wound had been taken care of and dressed properly, Cloud ignored the nurse's well-meaning admonishments and stood to get a better view. When the surgeons had finally finished with Kadaj's treatment, Cloud took hold of the shaft of his own IV stand, moving forward to stand beside the boy. His cerulean gaze flicked over Kadaj, taking in the whiteness of his skin, the extent of the damage the doctors had to repair, all revealed now as his leather armor had been stripped and even cut away.

The nurse was trying to get him to move back over to the stool again, touchingly concerned for both patients' health, but then the head surgeon was there, brushing her away offhandedly. "You're the one who brought him to us."

"Mm." Cloud nodded, not turning his gaze to the man, now dressed in a characteristic white lab-coat, rather than the pale bluish and blood spattered scrubs. He could see him well enough out of his peripheral vision though, a young man, for such an important position, with dark auburn hair and a goatee, probably grown in an attempt to look older.

"We'll be taking him to recovery, shortly. You're welcome to accompany him of course. We know of his volatile nature and his general hostility toward our company, so we would appreciate your help greatly, in keeping him calm during his recovery. You'll have a guard posted near, of course, should you require it, but the President seems to believe the two of you have some sort of rapport which you'll be able to use, so we will not have to resort to subduing him physically. That would be better for everyone involved, I believe. Can we count on you? It may be asking too much, but…"

"No. No, I'm more than willing to stay with him. I only want to be able to see some of my companions waiting in the lobby," he knew Tifa would not be pleased with this… He knew she had questions which deserved his answering, but this was neither the time, nor the place. He did not trust the Shin-Ra. And frankly he still did not trust Kadaj.

"We can arrange for them to see you, in a limited capacity. I don't want this man's health to be affected by a great deal of activity, but I will trust to your judgment on who will maintain a peaceful atmosphere for him."

"Thank you…"

The recovery room, thankfully, lacked the same antiseptic feeling of the operating sector and the hallways leading to it. There was still a fair amount of dull, brushed steel in the frame of the rolling bed and the room's various fittings, but the colour scheme was more along the lines of the lobby in which most of Cloud's compatriots were still waiting, save one: Vincent.

The stoic, former TURK now stood next to the chair in which Cloud sat, both looking over the vulnerable, now sleeping form of Sephiroth's spent chrysalis. Monitors beeped softly, and the IVs still dripped vital fluid back into Cloud and Kadaj's respective systems, but despite the invasive medical connotations those sounds held for all three men, none of them were paying it any mind now, least of all Kadaj.

"Not even restrained… They're putting a great deal of faith in you." The metallic claws of Vincent's deadly left arm were wrapped loosely around the bed's raised railing.

"Not too much faith though… The two guards outside the door aren't just for show, and they've stationed more, strategically out of sight, I'm sure. It's only a matter of waiting."

Vincent nodded once, a slow movement, and kept his voice low, even though he was certain they'd be overheard by some one loyal to Shin-Ra, no matter. It wasn't of consequence though, his own distrust of the corporation was well founded and well known. It wouldn't raise their suspicions much further if he spoke to Cloud against them.

"Shin-Ra knows more about Kadaj and his brothers than they initially admitted to us… Reno might have told us just how familiar they are, if Tseng hadn't relieved him of the responsibility of explaining himself at the last moment. … They will not readily release him."

"Mm…" Cloud had already come to the same conclusion himself, after the conversation he had overheard, but that was a piece of intelligence he preferred not to reveal he had, at the present. After a brief stretch of silence between them, Vincent moved to take his leave, nodding assent as Cloud requested he let everyone know he would be staying on at the Healin Lodge, duration, undetermined as of yet. He knew Tifa would not be pleased to hear it, that she'd be angry he hadn't asked to have her come back and talk with him… But there was nothing he could say to her here, not freely, and he didn't want her starting in on him, worried that he was slipping away from her again.

This had nothing to do with his uncertainties and self-consciousness from before, at least not in the capacity Tifa would believe it to. He wouldn't be able to make her see that with out creating a scene, however, and the Doc had asked he keep things calm here, for Kadaj's sake.

"Kadaj…"

Cloud had not expected the name would actually rouse the silver-haired boy from his half-drugged slumbering, had spoke it only in personal reflection, but the delicate brows above his still closed eyes knit suddenly, and after a moment's effort, swimming back to the surface from the depths of dreams, Kadaj woke and looked to Cloud again.

There was a moment of silence between the two wounded fighters as they regarded one another, assessing the state of things in the battles' aftermath. Cloud thought for a moment that the quiet would stretch on into eternity, until Kadaj broke it with his voice, as soft and grey as kitten-fur. "You didn't tell them… did you?"

Knitting his own pale and golden brows in slight confusion, Cloud watched the other as he lifted his slender hands from the bed and inspected his bondless wrists. Obviously he'd been expecting restraints, looked quietly amazed they weren't present. After a moment, when he was sure Kadaj wasn't going to volunteer to make that statement any more clear, Cloud asked him uncertainly. "What would I have told them…?"

Kadaj's Makou eyes flicked up to Cloud, a wane sort of smile touching the edges of his lips, the delicate pink only found inside the rarest shells. He didn't answer though, just lifted one finger half-way to those lips, too tired to make it the full distance, rounding his mouth out slightly in a soundless sign for silence. Still not sure what he would have told "them," Cloud nodded in his understanding of this: he should not talk of what he knew about Kadaj to anyone. Damn, but the aid of Shin-Ra was an irritatingly necessary evil.

"Ne, Niisan," Kadaj was inspecting the IV taped to the back of his hand now, not looking entirely pleased with it, more like he was considering ripping it out. Cloud put his own hand out over Kadaj's slim wrist to deter that course of action, but rather than looking up at him this time, kept his eyes on the slightly darker-skinned hand of his 'older brother.' "You're going to stay here with me, right? That's what you said…" He didn't seem entirely certain of the last statement, which Cloud imagined he'd overheard through half-sleep, not sure it wasn't a dream.

"Ah. I'm staying."

"Heh…n. Please. Don't let me out of your sight, okay?" There was an unsteadiness in the voice, not born of physical impairment. He was scared. Of Shin-Ra…? "Ne. Onegai?"

He did meet Cloud's eyes this time, needing the confirmation, and Cloud was reminded again, this fierce warrior was barely more than a child.

"I swear it."

**Author's remarks: ** I purchased my copy of Advent Children from Japan, sat down and did the translations for myself, which is mostly what I'm working from with my story. For those of you familiar with the fan-translated version going around the internet from hiro-subs, for "Shinentai," which they translate at length as "body of thoughts" I have chosen to use the term "Avatar." It's a stylistic preference I hope you'll all understand. Keep R&R-ing, please! You're comments really help me out!

**Translations: **

Onegai – Basically here, "please." Better explanation a little later.


	4. The Road Yet Unknown

The air inside the waiting room practically crackled with electric tension. Vincent had just informed them of Cloud's intentions, and all eyes were on Tifa, waiting for her reaction. Easily the closest to the lone-wolf ex-mercenary, his habit of shutting people out to deal with, or more often refuse to deal with, problems on his own affected her deeply.

After a few brief heart-beats though, the tension faded, Tifa's shoulders dropping visibly before she turned away from Vincent, toward Barret. "I guess there isn't anything else we can do here then. Ne, Barret. Marlene is still waiting for us back at the shop. After everything that's happened, she'll be wondering if we're all okay…" She was trying so hard to hang tough with this, to trust Cloud in his judgment. She wanted to believe this time all they'd been through would have a lasting affect on him, and maybe it was. She couldn't be there with him to talk about it, but he wasn't hanging back from this new and unexpected situation with this boy, Kadaj. He was facing right up to it, and that was good.

The rest of the party simply followed Tifa's lead in silence, ushered out by the TURKs Tseng and Elena to the out-door staircase that would lead them to the stretch of ground the Sierra was nestled over. Most eyes were still on the external portion of the building as the Sierra began to lift off, though Cloud and his strange ward would now be somewhere deep inside the mostly subterranean building. "Just like the fuckin' Shin-Ra," Cid Highwind sneered slightly around the filter of his cigarette, but no one really paid the snarky comment any mind.

Everyone was restless in their own way, uncertain of what this turn of events would mean. It had all been progressing so quickly, had seemed even, to reach a sort of conclusion, up until this, but now it did not so much look as though the battle for the fate of the Planet was at an end. No, just an uncomfortable standstill, the heroes unable to move freely until they could gauge if and when their enemies would attack.

Surprising herself, Tifa actually felt a tiny flare of anger at Reno for being so goddamned amiable through all of this. He and Rude had actually seemed to give a damn about her, Cloud and the children Kadaj and his brothers had kidnapped. Now it turned out that Shin-Ra was still keeping secrets and ulterior motives hidden, once again twisting AVALANCHE's arm with out them noticing. They were always using the little band of fighters as a tool.

Out of all of them the red-head was just such an easy-going guy. It was difficult to remember, sometimes, that he was a professional manipulator, assassin, even terrorist. Smoke was still rising off the edges of Sector 6 and the ruins of Sector 7 where the two had blasted Yazoo and Loz sky high, the damage obviously more extensive than was conceivably necessary… But, come to think on it, it was Reno who had dropped the plate on Sector 7 in the first place!

Suddenly that tiny flare of anger was a raging bonfire inside Tifa's chest and she vowed silently that if the TURK ever dared to show his fox-face inside her shop again, he was going to receive a memorable reception!

A drop of cool liquid against her bare upper arm distracted her from her heated seething though, and she turned to look as she brushed the aquamarine rivulet away. Life Stream… it must have come through the rivets in the flight-deck glass from the strange rain that had misted over Midgar, just after the defeat of Sephiroth at the hands of Cloud. It had always amazed Tifa, this strange substance that was fluid, but not quite water. Lighter, more ethereal, and though often cool to the touch, emanating with a warmth that touched the spirit rather than the nerves.

This single droplet warmed her thoughts now, like a familiar whisper against her ear, though there were no words, no sound. She closed her fingers tightly, forgetting to be angry with Reno and the rest of Shin-Ra for a moment, suddenly infused with a hope for better things; a hope without fear that it might go unfulfilled. "Because you're watching over us… Because the Planet is…" she murmured softly, which earned her a slightly sidelong glance from the red-furred Nanaki, seated not too far away.

The young Cosmo Canyon warrior and student of the Planet returned her smile easily enough though, when she'd shook her head slightly and smiled amiably to him. So it was alright if their path wasn't certain right here and now. They would take it one step at a time, while they must, and then charge forward once it cleared. Even if she didn't trust the Shin-Ra, she did trust everyone here, and she trusted Cloud above all.

He could be insufferably frustrating, could dig his heels in until she felt near to smacking him right across his cherubic, sullen face, but he had never failed to come through for her in the end. Once he finally got around to something, he could really do it, and had proved himself time and time again. Yes, she trusted him.

Turning around, away from the windows and the looming landscape of Midgar, Tifa cupped her hand to her mouth, calling up to Highwind.

"Cid! Your cockpit's leaking!"

**Author's remarks: **It's a short chapter, but I wanted to get something up even though I don't have much time to write during the weekdays. I've got a few ideas for chapter five in the works though, so hopefully that one will turn out a little more substantial and entertaining. This was really just a moment for reflection, and to bring in a brief reminder of everyone's favorite (chokes, coughs, gags) flower girl. (Ask me why the Forgotten City is my favorite CG scene in the game…snicker)


	5. To Blithely Bear Bad Tidings

Souba, the twin bladed sword personally crafted by the most skilled sword-smiths on the Planet, forged by the same hands, in the same forge that had birthed the legendary Masamune. Reno held it in his hand now, squinting down the length of the gap, catching the tall figure of his partner-in-crime as though in a sight. The entire scene of the epic battles fought between Sephiroth, Strife and Kadaj was now cordoned off with yellow cautionary tape, Midgar Metropolitan Police stationed every few yards around the perimeter. No station detectives combed the grounds though, only Shin-Ra's people, there to retrieve whatever might be left of Jenova's remains.

"Rufus really intends to give this back to the kid?" He tried giving it a swing around, finding it much more unwieldy than his trusty nightstick, but he'd seen the kid in action and knew it posed absolutely no problem to him. Rude didn't seem to find the question really worth the answering though, just hefted Cloud Strife's impressive six-piece sword, so casually left behind by the ex-mercenary, as though it had meant nothing to him. Rude smirked silently to his fiery-haired partner and Reno nodded approvingly, "Suits you. To-ta-ly."

"Reno, Rude. We've found it." Tseng's terse voice crackled over the mobile phone holstered at Reno's belt, and the both of them turned to look down off the lofty overhang to where their leader and his partner Elena searched below. They were barely visible from this height, but Reno could see the spec of the previously sealed container there in Elena's hands, lid and bin parted. Sneering slightly, Reno gave them a brief wave to let them know he and Rude were coming down.

Beautiful. Now they had no idea where those disgusting scraps of Jenova might be, what in hell Kadaj might have done with them. The red-head reflected now that he might have done better to have paid attention to that slimy Professor and his assistants when they'd occasioned to flap their high-and-mighty gods-of-science lips at him. Reno knew there had been vital information about the Jenova Project that had slipped loose, the scientists trying to make ostentatious displays of "superior" intellect that Reno never paid enough attention to to know if it was actually over his head or not. These were likely things he should have filed away in his head to pass on to Tseng, incase Hojo and his cronies had plans to double-cross the Shin-Ra. This whole mess with Kadaj's gang seemed to indicate that was pretty likely now, but…

Hojo hadn't trusted Shin-Ra's elite security after what had happened with that strange man, Valentine. Already rogue enough as it was, he demanded further autonomy to conduct his twisted experiments unhindered, and the senior and now late President Shin-Ra had granted it blithely along with a massive increase in Hojo's grants and personal stipend. Tseng had attempted to persuade the man otherwise if Reno remembered it rightly, unfortunately to no effect. Rufus had near boiled over.

Personally, Reno liked the current president a lot better than his pop. The kid preferred more creative methods of getting things done than just laying down fat sums of money the way his father had, though Rufus was far from cheap. He just knew the value of respect over the value of a Gil, and had what he needed to back his demands for that respect, too.

Unfortunately, Rufus hadn't been in the seat of control long enough to make all the proper inquisitions into Hojo's research when things had gone ballistic, and it looked as though by the time he started pulling the plugs on the various veins of funding, the mad scientist had already accomplished much of his diabolical work. Now that the creep was dead though, who knew what all of that work really entailed? What else might have gotten loose and gone unchecked with the brains behind it all wiped out and the Shin-Ra company knocked to its knees, unable to get all its wits about?

That's what this company really need: to get past all this Jenova Project tripe and get on with its own reconstruction. They needed to get back on track freeing up frozen assets and reclaiming rogue branches of their organization that had tried to break off and turn independent in the chaos following Meteor. Fucking mutineers. Reno had a sap for every thick skull who thought they could take advantage of a wounded beast. If they thought the global power of Shin-Ra Corp. was beat and broken for good, they had another thing coming.

Admittedly, under the old president, even Reno might have disappeared, taking with him his secret accounts to sip iced drinks on the Costa del Sol shore for the rest of his days… but Rufus, even bodily broken by the attack of Weapon, even wracked with supposedly terminal Geostigma, had kept the lust for greater things burning inside Reno's soul. Say what you would about the degenerate red-head, he could grasp the greater vision, could see further than the end of his sharp little nose, and he wanted so much more than a Tequila Sunrise and a Costa sunset. And fuck it, either way, this was still more fun.

Even if there were the occasional irritations like Kadaj and his punk brothers. If by some impossible stroke of luck those two had really made it past him and Rude, Reno swore he'd make that long haired asshole wish the bombs had taken him out. Little fucker did not understand the value of plausible deniability! "Zero Confidence"… Fucker.

He put that all to the back of his mind though, as they strode up to meet Tseng and Elena, now confirming up close that the canister was completely empty. He sighed softly and ticked his head to the side, waiting for Tseng's next orders, now that they'd recovered what little was left to actually take back. Beyond the two swords and the canister, there were only the marks of the actual spar left in various walls in the vicinity to be photographed and probably just filed away.

"Rescue operations in Sector 6 are proceeding smoothly, though so far no evidence of either Yazoo or Loz has been found beneath the plate. The remains of the Dual Hound and Velvet Nightmare have been retrieved, and one of their motorcycles is being removed from the highway tunnel. There have been no sightings however, and no move has been made on the Healin Lodge. So far we're giving you two the benefit of the doubt and presuming them dead," Tseng let them in on the reports as he lead them back toward the helicopter, taking the Souba from Reno when they climbed aboard.

Reno flashed him a "victory" along with a shit-eating grin as he headed for the cockpit, loving the wording of that last bit. Tseng had always been the mildly disapproving and stoic professional, but Reno knew he took a secret pleasure in the over all lawlessness of the TURKs' operation, and the special sort of scoundrel attitude that Reno brought to it personally. If it had been anything otherwise, Reno'd have seen his walking papers handed over long before now. As far as he knew, his job was secure.

"Goddamn, some times I can't believe we get paid for this shit," he waited for Rude to settle himself in the copilot's seat before lifting off, nodding in the direction of the smoke still rising thinly over the city. His companion nodded with an easy grin, settling back with hands behind his head.

When they returned to the lodge they'd have to deal with all the stress of Kadaj and Strife again, but for now they might as well just enjoy the view. As Midgar slipped away beneath them, Reno inspected all the mayhem, taking not only a little pride in having a hand in it. Really, Midgar was nothing but his own gigantic play-ground, and Shin-Ra paid for all his toys. He couldn't imagine a better life than this.

Well… Shin-Ra back in power, the way it really should be, would be one definite improvement, but it wasn't going to be long now before that took place. The people might be blaming Shin-Ra for all its woes now, but they'd be singing a very different tune now that Rufus was well again, certain to live well long enough to take the Shin-Ra Corporation back in hand.

Reno smiled to himself, thinking of the tall, cocky blonde striding powerfully through the hallways of the Healin medical and bio-research facilities, firing off his own orders once again, rather than delegating them to Tseng to deliver in his place. Rufus hadn't been embarrassed to be mostly wheel-chair bound, but he knew the impact in people's trust seeing him ailing would have made. And he'd wanted no sympathies.

Stupid of the former president, to let that freak Hojo get his hands on his own kid… All the TURKs had only narrowly escaped placement in the SOLDIER training program thanks to Rufus' own passionate insistence, only convincing the elder Shin-Ra after several extended arguments regarding the necessity of diversification in their security and combat forces. Otherwise they might all have ended up with the Geostigma, and Reno counted it a miracle of Rufus Shin-Ra's own sheer will that he'd survived it long enough to be healed.

So many people, so many kids had died miserable and pathetic deaths thanks to the spread of Jenova's cells through Hojo and Heiddeger's great SOLDIER program… The baby-boom after the end of the Wutai War meant a second generation who'd inherited the susceptibility to Jenova's influence, even children in Wutai itself, kids born from over-seas troops and local girls. Their youth and vitality had let them hold up a little longer, the kids… but their folks… well, that just explained why a lot of affected kids were orphans.

Reno hoped all of them had been healed. He didn't understand exactly how that had worked out, both Rufus and Strife were free of the affliction now, but if that rain had been the thing after all… well, he just hoped everyone'd been outside. People dieing slowly, painfully, all thanks to a psychotic geneticist and a genocidal alien from outer space… Even as a TURK whose whole job description came down to destruction, assassination and torture, Reno didn't care for that.

Well, at least he knew he had a hand in striking back against the mother-fuckers who'd tried to mess with their Planet. He personally carried in the remains of the Velvet Nightmare, Rude the Dual Hound, letting the others take care of the still-functional weaponry while he and his partner took a little break to pay a visit to Healin's two newest patients.

Kadaj's eyes fluttered back open in lost confusion as he felt something impact heavily beside him in the bed. At first the sight meant nothing to him, just a weird close-up landscape of steely grey, until he managed to focus beyond the metal bits in front of him, to the pair of TURKs standing just beyond. He watched the red-head's emerald eyes round slightly in surprise as he sat up faster than he was sure they'd expected him too, and the bald one took a small step back, preparing to be lunged at.

He watched them for a second longer, not trusting not to be attacked as well, though Cloud was standing just across the bed. Kadaj was certain he could count on help from him, so after a moment he let his eyes drop to actually identify the metal objects that had come bare centimeters from striking his sleeping head.

"We've got yours, too, then. Cloud, we'll return your sword whenever you check out, just ask for one of us, but you… I don't see you getting Souba back any time soon…"

Kadaj ran the tips of his fingers over the intricate scrollwork on the halved barrel of Yazoo's Velvet Nightmare, his whole body beginning to shake. He choked softly, closed his eyes tight as he pulled his chin down toward his constricting chest. The soft and vile chuckle the red-head let loose to see Kadaj's pain was more than the boy could bear. Flattening his palm against the ruined weapon, he lifted his head to fix him with a slit-pupil glare. "Omaera… I won't need a blade to kill!"

Now he lunged, pulling over the IV stand, over-turning the hospital bed as he leapt from it onto the offending TURK. Machinery went wild with little sirens and frantic beeps as connecting wires lost contact with their patient, proclaiming him crashing, or dead, which only heightened the chaos of the sudden brawl, into which Rude, Cloud, and the guards outside the door quickly fell.

Kadaj managed to land one good blow to Reno's jaw before the other could react, catching himself in midstumble while quickly detaching his nightstick from his belt, letting it extend in the same movement that swung for the boy's silver head. Kadaj was still weak yet, though stronger than expected, so his dodge was a bit slower than he himself was used to and the weapon caught the crown of his head. He ended up falling back into Cloud, clutching at the wound now with both Rude and Reno coming at him, so he put out one hand as though commanding them to halt. His true intentions would be much more effective than a simple gesture.

"KADAJ! NO!" Suddenly Cloud's arm was hooked around his, pulling to the side so the spell misfired, the missiles of magical energy impacting against the corner of the walls beyond Reno, blasting a gaping hole out into the hall. At the same time, he picked the weakened boy fully up off the ground, spun him around to face the far wall and took the blow meant for Kadaj's face against his own bandaged shoulder.

The pain that shot through him from that now aggravated wound was enough to knock Cloud to his knees, and Kadaj went down with him, though the would-be SOLDIER regained his wits fast enough to not let the desperate and maddened child escape his hold. He used the opportunity to pin Kadaj against himself, struggling ineffective, praying the attacks from the TURKs would stop.

Luckily, Reno had had no intentions of attacking Cloud in the first place and when he'd managed to strike the ex-mercenary by mistake he'd pulled up short, eyes wide and mouth an "o" of shock at himself. "Cloud! Ah! Gomen! Daijoubu?" Though _of course_ the other guy wasn't okay, Reno mentally kicked himself for asking. Rude also halted and signaled for the guards to stand down, waiting to see if Cloud could get Kadaj in hand.

"Kadaj… Stop it," his tone was quiet, firm against the boy's delicate ear. He could feel the intensity of his rage in the way Kadaj's slender body shook, the hospital shift a poor barrier between them. Kadaj turned his head, opened his snarling mouth to speak his protest, but Cloud cut him off, explaining in the same restrained voice, locking eyes with him, "If you fight them, they will knock you out. They will tie you down and keep you sedated, like a dangerous mental patient. You won't be able to resist them, no matter what they do to you, and they will probably separate you from me."

"Yazoo… Loz…" Kadaj's pale eyes threatened tears now, anger breaking down into the sorrow it was meant to stave. Still, if Cloud let go of him now, he would continue to attack. He hadn't fallen that far into despair just yet.

Cloud didn't say anything else though, just held tight as the fire in his shoulder began to uncoil, waiting for Kadaj to work it out. He'd had his own hand in their apparent deaths after all, though he hadn't known he'd been leading them into the TURKs little trap. Even if he had though, at that time he wouldn't have moved in any other way. He suspected Kadaj knew this. Cloud could only hope to be forgiven.

Finally grief won out. Kadaj lost his strength to his tears, dropping his head the few close centimeters so now he and his 'Niisan' were cheek to cheek, noses nestled close to one another. Though the doorway and gaping hole in the wall were becoming crowded with people; doctors, nurses, guards and simply curious faces, no one dared to interfere with the two, especially as it appeared the younger was armed with a weapon none of them could take from him…

But when Cloud could finally coax Kadaj to his feet, Rufus Shin-Ra and the head doctor were surprisingly close at hand. All the TURKs were present now as well, President Shin-Ra's apparent security against the reckless patient, but Rufus came forward to help seat Kadaj on the now righted bed as though he had nothing to fear from him. "Warukatta… Kadaj, I was unaware my men had come down here to harass you." There was an edge to his voice that said Rude and Reno should have known better than to provoke the wounded leopard.

Kadaj closed one hand upon the President's white coat sleeve, his slender fingers only slightly pinker than the cloth they gripped. "My brothers…" He didn't even look up as he asked after them, not needing to see whether or not the truth would be in Shin-Ra's eyes. Cloud on the other hand, scrutinized him closely.

"We have no reason to believe that they survived. You made war upon the Planet, Kadaj, and upon the Shin-Ra. You and yours caused the deaths of countless people. You should have expected your own casualties…"

The boy let go of Rufus' sleeve and the entirety of his entourage relaxed visibly. Instead he took tighter hold of Cloud, pulling him down, insisting to be embraced, to be shielded by the other, hiding silent tears.

"Given the state of your room, we will be moving you, once the good doctor here is satisfied with your condition. Then considering your unique talent for the absorption of materia, you possess a great advantage, one that we have very few options to resort to keep in check."

"Rufus-" the young president waved Cloud down as he'd begun to raise protest, and reluctantly the other let him continue.

"What we are asking for, is a truce. I want your guarantee, Kadaj, that there will be no further violence from you within this facility, or that would cause damage to it. Even now there are wounded civilians being treated here, and there is medical research in progress that would set us behind by years, even decades if it was destroyed.

"In return we will continue to treat your own wounds and make no attempts to subject you to anything to which you are opposed. And in the future I can assure you there will be no further harassment from my people. You may consider this place a haven. …Are we agreed?" Rufus waited silently, the whole room seemed to hold its breath.

Cloud didn't trust for one moment that either side could keep such a truce in tact. Shin-Ra didn't understand enough of what had happened within the last day to let rest, Kadaj was too young and passionate to so easily forgive. It was a move to buy time, that was all, and for enemies to stay close enough to hope the other would let something slip.

Apparently Kadaj meant to take advantage of that though, for after a moment he at last unwound himself from Cloud, brushed at his cheeks roughly with one limp hand and looked up to Rufus, giving a terse nod. "Agreed." Neither man put out their hand.

"Yokatta. Well then, Doctor, if you would." Kadaj sat himself up a little straighter, letting the man step close and inspect him. The ruined bits of Yazoo and Loz's weapons were discretely removed while the youth's attention was taken up with doctor's directions, and finally satisfied that nothing had torn loose (save the IV needles from both men's hands) and there was no internal bleeding, a wheel chair was brought around and Kadaj moved to another wing.

In a strange tactical move, Rufus had instructed that Kadaj be placed with other patients if his conditions allowed for it, and now Cloud found himself seated at the boy's bedside in a long room occupied by injured and ailing children, though none of these were like the orphans Cloud had stayed with. These were all children whose parents had enough money to afford good medical care, and still had some trust for the Shin-Ra. Given the possible danger Rufus had just put them all in, it just confirmed again how much that trust was dangerously unfounded and ill placed.

But Kadaj didn't seem to be in the mood to wreak any more havoc today. He sat propped up in the new, clean hospital bed, watching his hands in his lap silently. Cloud could see the familiar weight of broken promises and failed plans resting heavily on the youth's slim shoulders, haunting his jade eyes.

He suddenly felt the strong need to apologize to Tifa, to all the others but especially to her, for carrying on that way so long.

**Author's remarks:** Alright, so this chapter turned out to be more suited to go before "Familiar Smile, Stranger's Face" than after it, so forgive the slight linear hiccup with me switching chapters around. There are a few new remarks for that chapter as well, so if you've already read it, you might just scroll down and check them.

Man, I love the TURKs. In particular Reno, obviously. He's a fun character to write for, and a great catalyst. I'm working from the idea that the Shin-Ra folk didn't actually see the battle between Cloud and Seph/Kadaj, so they have no clue exactly how it went down, or how Reunion was carried out, something they're now very interested in.

On the "Zero-Confidence" thing. I haven't seen the Bien translation, so I don't know how they do it, but the Hiro subs version messed something up. When Reno tells Yazoo that even they (Rude and Reno) don't know where the remains of Jenova are, Hiro subs translates Yazoo's reply as "What? I don't trust you guys at all." There's no reason Reno would get pissed and Rude would get evasive over this if that's the case. Well, it's not. Yazoo says "Nan da? Shinyou Zero da na." Which more accurately translates as "What's that? Zero Confidence, huh." i.e. Shin-Ra not having enough confidence in the TURKs to tell them Jenova's whereabouts, a jab definitely worthy of anger and embarrassment. So, now you know. :D

**Translations:**

Omaera – A very pissed-off way to indicate a collection of two or more people. The general feeling is something along the lines of "you bastards…"

Gomen – "Sorry"

Daijoubu? – "Are you okay?"

Warukatta – A way of admitting fault, sorta like saying "my bad" in terms of words, only not so immature.

Yokatta – "That's good."


	6. Familar Smile, Stranger's Face

The TURKs of Shin-Ra fame… or perhaps infamy was a better word, had incredibly good timing. Frighteningly good timing, for regular home-grown human beings. That they could synchronize a pair of incendiary devices to detonate, not soon enough to endanger a former, would-be SOLDIER, but only to target a pair of rogue Avatars, all speeding at break-neck velocity, right on top of one another, down the same tunnel…? More than just a little impressive. Rude and Reno certainly seemed to have the right to be a bit cocky and self-confident.

But even the best timing on the part of an "organic" human couldn't quite catch the reflexes of Jenova's chosen entirely off-guard. The bombs hadn't quite reached the zero-mark in their brief and rapid count down when Yazoo noticed something off, and as the bright blossom of fire and fireworks began to flower out from its little seeds of steel, the long-haired youth was already pulling the motorcycle around in an attempt to make an escape.

He wouldn't have enough time though, the bloom of deadly heat and shrapnel would envelope them before he had the swift machine entirely turned about. The billowing flames were already evaporating the instant cold sweat that had broke out on his face when he'd realized they'd been set up for a trap. He caught the smell of burning hair as the first sparks caught the ends of his long mane, and cursed Shin-Ra again, for all the damned interference they'd posed the brothers.

Loz was a bit slower on the up-take than his compatriot, but what he lacked in initial reaction time he made up for when he finally reacted. He didn't notice the trap that had been set, but when Yazoo had suddenly pressed back into him, trying to turn around the bike, he'd taken the cue for the need to escape and made use of his unique celerity for a hastier retreat. Taking quick hold of Yazoo, he launched them back off the motorcycle, the hulking machine spinning out beneath them against the exploding asphalt, devoured in flames.

The entire stilted structure of the elevated roadway was folding like a house of cards beneath the explosion. Though steel and concrete shot in all directions, most of it was propelled downward into the ground-level portions of the city. A great deal fell into the wasteland that remained of Sector 7, but substantial chunks of road and tunnel pummeled the boundaries of Sector 6 in a meteor shower of debris as well.

Fire licked with hungry tongues at their hair and faces, heated leather armor which stubbornly refused to be quick to burn. Shouting to be heard over the roar of the explosion, Yazoo called out, "Down! Take us down!" and Loz complied, not needing reasons before he followed Yazoo's orders. Though it meant following the flames, the belching smoke would cover their escape into the underbelly of the city, hopefully deterring those blue-suited bastards from following and trying to find them.

Trying to navigate a clear path to the streets was difficult though, falling concrete and rebar hurtled past at body breaking speeds, and even at his fastest, Loz couldn't dodge it all. Shards of metal sliced the leather casing their bodies, drawing blood and letting fire in. Loz wasn't certain in those moments they two wouldn't perish in the TURKs' explosion after all.

As if in answer, something hard and heated struck against his temple with a speed and force that likely would have crushed a normal human being's skull. He didn't even have a breath to reflect on the irony of it, not even so far as to think, 'It figures,' before he had blacked out, still hurtling toward the flames. It didn't seem possible that a motley band like Shin-Ra's TURKs could have possibly taken on Jenova's Chosen and won, but…

"Loz…! Loz!" As he'd felt his brother's grip go limp on him, Yazoo realized again the immediate peril in which they found themselves. Taking his turn to grasp the other to himself, tightly, he searched among the hellish wreckage beneath them for a target point to aim for. Somewhere elevated, somewhere flat, where he could get himself and Loz out and away before more of the freeway fell down on top of them, before the fires burnt them to a crisp. It seemed damned near impossible, but Yazoo couldn't let Loz or himself down.

After all this… They'd nearly met their mother! Kadaj had her even now, and when they all gathered together once again…! Mother would take all the pain and emptiness away, erase all the meaninglessness Yazoo felt in his small life. If nothing else, Yazoo would know where he belonged. Loz wanted that much too, he knew this, and so he made the seemingly impossible happen, found purchase in the crumbling blaze, and shot out through it in directions unknown. Anywhere that might be safe, anywhere but this hell of fire and pavestones.

Down beneath the Plate, in Sector 6 all the festivities of a never ending nightlife (which had only become sketchier and more dangerous in this time of poverty and lawlessness) found themselves unusually interrupted by the explosions from above. Those familiar with the history of Sector 7 immediately feared the worst for themselves, taking cover in the deepest portion of whatever building they were near or in, if they were close enough to hear and comprehend the sounds, or outside beneath the sunless metal sky where they might see the flashy fire-works explosion.

In any case, the streets were quickly emptied in the flash-flood panic, spread by Chicken-Little doom-sayers who in their attempts to flee cried out that the sky was coming down. Yazoo found it no difficult thing to navigate his way rapidly through the streets, propelled solely by adrenaline, the instinct just to live. He bore the weight of his unconscious companion as though the other wasn't there, the both of them mere black shadows, covered head to toe in soot, racing through the streets between the panicked mortals as though thinner than the air.

At last, Yazoo's body hit the breaking point. Even sheer survival instincts couldn't push him forward any further, and he collapsed, pitching forward suddenly and unexpectedly under the returned weight of his burden and the sudden absence of his strength. Pain now flared in every part of him, in every cut and bruise, in the burns that seared him here and there, and he envied Loz his unconscious state, free from all this agony.

Rolling out from beneath the fallen rag-doll that was his friend, Yazoo reached up to claw open the high collar of his armor, trying to escape the still-hot leather, and draw a proper breath of air. Acrid smoke had scorched his throat and lungs; the forceful coughing only heaped on further pain. Yazoo swore a foul worded oath inside his mind, the next time he laid eyes on that red-head punk, to pay him back in spades. Given his condition, and the murderous revenge fantasies that were trying to block out the effects of that condition, Yazoo did not even take a moment to appreciate the soft bed of clean earth and cushion of white and yellow flowers that had broken his sudden fall.

**VIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVII**

The widow Gainsborough heard the distant explosion only a little muffled by the distance of the sector which fell between her small cottage and the collapsing highway. Reverberations of the blast shook the supports of the mostly empty two story house, rattling pictures against the walls and delicate tea cups in their curio cases. It wasn't the first of explosions she had heard coming from above, but it was definitely the closest, having apparently come beneath the plate while the others seemed to have stayed above.

She waited, seated at her kitchen table, hands wrapped around a warm mug of hot, relaxing tea, to see if the sounds of destruction would return again, if this was at last the trumpet call for the end for their vast and tragic city… Even as the world fell quiet, an ominous feeling of dread continued to grip her tired bones. Those sounds had been nothing but soft warning thunder, and this, the calm before the storm…

**VIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVII**

"Y-…Yazoo?" Loz was starting to come around again. Blood ran from his temple in a vibrant sheet of red, matting his soot-streaked silver hair, covering his cheek, neck and chin in a wet-looking slick. He lay sprawled face forward in the flower bed, nostrils too seared by the chemical scents of the explosion to notice their powerful fragrance wafting all around. He was so disoriented, so unaware of himself and his limbs, he couldn't have gotten his arms or feet up under himself to stand, even if he'd had the notion to try.

Yazoo had managed to push up onto one sharp elbow though, torso freed from the confines of his armor now, left with just the black ribbed tank he'd been wearing underneath. He turned his head to look at his companion, neither one of them in any sort of enviable state, but thanked silently the forces unknown to him that they were at least still alive, and both now conscious too. "I'm here, Loz. Just lay still."

The larger man didn't appear to have any intentions of doing anything otherwise but stay laid flat upon the ground. When he opened his eyes, they were completely dilated and unfocused, searching for his friend. "Kadaj…"

"I don't know, Loz. We lost him on the streets…" Yazoo shook his head softly and coughed again, throat raw and aching. He could hear the damage done to it in his voice, and decided if he could, he would do his best to avoid much talking. It seemed Loz had made a similar decision, as for the moment neither of them spoke, but finally collecting enough breath for it, Loz spoke up again.

"He has Mother though… Go to them. Go meet Mother." He didn't have the strength for anything beyond that, and seemed to relax against the ground, as if giving that permission had been all he'd needed to fight for. Yazoo eyes went wide; he was enraged!

"And leave you he-!" Yazoo's voice broke as he forgot his previous decision, as quickly as he'd made it, trying to yell at Loz. He pushed himself back over, pulling his knees up under himself and took a hold of Loz, grasping one shoulder tightly, turning him roughly to look up into Yazoo's face. He tried to convey with the ferocity of his darkly circled eyes what he could no longer say: He could **not** leave Loz here to go meet Mother alone. They were nearly the same age, and they'd been through more than just today's Hell fire together, all to meet Mother, to find where they belonged. No matter how much he longed to go to her, no matter how tempting that prospect was, it simply wasn't something he could d, if it meant abandoning Loz.

Tears rolled, large and hot from the corners of Loz's hazy jadeite eyes. Yazoo cradled Loz's wounded head in the smooth palms of his now naked hands, his fingers lacing through dirty pewter hair, the left becoming smeared with blood. Leaning down, he pressed his forehead softly up against the others, feeling the knit of Loz's eyebrows against his skin as he willed strength into his dearest friend. Voice ruined, he could only whisper, "Nakimushi…" But it was alright, it was only meant for them.

A soft gasp from near by distracted both men suddenly, two pairs of feral greenish eyes turned upon the small, middle aged woman who was the source. She took a slight step back when she saw the heat in their gaze, but calmed as it fled quickly. These boys could tell she meant no threat to them. A strange sort of whim had drawn her out from the relative safety of her home, amid all the seeming chaos, but looking down at these soot-stained and scorched young men, she could almost hear her daughter's voice. "Kaa-san, onegai?" It was a feeling she often had among these flowers, the reason that she stayed.

"You two came through Sector 6, didn't you? I think it might still be dangerous out here. Would you like to come inside?" She gestured back to her little home just down the gently sloping hill. For a moment Yazoo was thoughtful, taciturn, but then glancing around to be certain no other eyes were watching, he nodded once and turned back to whisper to Loz.

"She's just a civilian, she doesn't know us. We'll stay out of the sight of Shin-Ra until we can go to meet Mother and Kadaj. Put your arm around me, I'll help you up." Eyes still streaming great childish tears, Loz regarded his companion for a moment with grave uncertainty, but knew he couldn't have refused. Loz was a good fighter, and the oldest of the three, technically, but he'd always been a follower; it wasn't difficult for Yazoo and Kadaj to push him around.

Not that he wasn't perfectly happy to do as his brothers wished, their objectives being primarily the same, but in the end he really did have a problem asserting himself. Luckily Yazoo wasn't the type to take advantage of that for any reasons save those with Loz's best interests in mind. He cajoled his partner into taking hold of him, and summoning his strength again, pushed the both of them up. The slight, auburn haired widow rushed forward on tiny little steps to help steady the man, easily more than twice her weight, and once they were standing, lead the way through the garden to her home.

To be honest, Yazoo and Loz had never seen the inside of a civilian home like this. Neither one had paid any attention to the interior of the Strife shop-cum-residence from whence they'd taken all the orphans, and all else they knew were barren little cubicles and the strange shell-homes of their hideout in the Ancients' city. The warmth of this place was striking, like a sweet breath against the face, and both young men gazed about in wonder, failing to take further steps in as the woman rushed forward to clear off the knitting from her couch. This is how people might live…?

Gathering up her knitting basket and the wound up balls of yarn left out upon the cushions, the home-maker looked up to see the two still standing at the threshold and dumped her burden upon a footstool to bustle back over and usher them inside. "Come in, come in, don't worry about dirtying anything, it all washes if it stains. Come, bring your friend over to the couch, let him lie down and I'll bring a damp towel. My name is Elmyra by the way. You can just call me that."

Yazoo gave her a tiny distracted nod, complying with her gentle orders, taking Loz over to the sofa to seat him. The woman called Elmyra moved immediately into the connecting kitchen, putting on her kettle once again, rummaging through drawers for clean cloths for the boys to use. She wasn't certain how badly either of them was really hurt; it seemed they'd been through quite a lot, but there was no use trying to get to a hospital. Elmyra didn't have a car, and all emergency vehicles would be at the sight of the explosion by now. Once they were both settled though, if it looked like they needed a doctor's attention, she'd see about asking a favor of her neighbors.

She brought the kettle of hot water in with the towels, handing one to Yazoo. "Here, start cleaning up, hm? I'll get the first aid kit from the medicine cabinet up stairs." Yazoo watched her go, floored by her eagerness to help them, at her friendly countenance. Never had he met some one with such a gentle nature…

Shaking it off, he did as bade, helping Loz out of his leather body armor as carefully as possible, then dipping the cloth into the steaming water and gently wiping at Loz's face. While his companion's gaze flicked about the comforting, but entirely alien little room, he washed the caking blood away from his cheek and neck, cleaning gently around the wound itself, trying not to open it back up. It appeared mostly to just be a nasty gash in Loz's skin, but there might be some slight fracturing to the bone as well, Yazoo couldn't tell. Anyway, even if the woman offered, Yazoo wouldn't let them be taken to a hospital. Not only was it too high-profile, a good place to get caught, but the idea alone, of doctors and nurses, poking and prodding, unfamiliar with the special physiology of the brothers, was simply too unsettling to even be considered.

No, this could be wrapped. All their wounds could be cleaned and salved and covered in simple bandages, left to their own devices to heal. "Remember to try and stay awake, okay? This has got to be one hell of a concussion…" Loz purred his wordless agreement, a big-cat sound that made Yazoo smile. Loz's voice wasn't shot like his, but with the resonance his deeper tones created, he imagined that mustn't be too gentle on a wounded skull.

The woman appeared again, cradling in her arms this time disinfectants, medicines and bandages. Yazoo nodded his thanks to her, though declined her offer to help with Loz so that he could tend himself. Unneeded she simply seated herself in the armchair near by, trying not to stare at the two while Yazoo played medic, but finding them too fascinating not to steal a glance all the same.

With as tenderly as he worked, she suspected they were either lovers or brothers. The glint of similar silver hair, though, pointed more towards the second. His ability to handle the cuts and burns was impressive as well, and Elmyra found herself wondering who these people were… She recalled clearly only a little more than two years before when similar strangely clothed and capable men had found need of the hospitality of her home, putting in motion a chain of events that would change their world, and take her daughter away from her.

As he tended to his own wounds, washing down his neck and arms with fresh towels, binding cuts and burns in gauze, the longer haired youth kept up a constant whispered and one-sided conversation with his friend, too soft for Elmyra to hope to catch, though she wondered fiercely what it was.

At last the boy took a moment and stood up, pealing the entirety of his own black leather ensemble away, leaving only the close fitting tank top and thigh-length leggings both he and his companion wore beneath. It was there, along his gently sculpted calves, that Elmyra first took real notice of the splotchy grayish marks which, now that she looked, were prevalent all across his body. She'd assumed it all to be stubborn ash at first, but this was clinging to otherwise clean ivory skin.

"Geostigma…?" Both men turned to look at her when she'd made the quiet exclamation, a sort of self-conscious uncertainty stealing across their faces. Yazoo turned and pulled the brightly coloured afghan from the back of the couch and draped it over Loz, quickly hiding the other's obviously affected skin. Elmyra immediately realized the impropriety of having spoken so and covered her mouth ashamedly, but Yazoo, who had no way to hide his own affliction now, simply shrugged it off.

"I'm sorry… I've never seen anyone your age who's still surviving with it. The two of you must be very strong." The boy returned her apology and compliment with a soft smile, full of a sadness so deep it nearly broke Elmyra's heart. It was a familiar smile, all too familiar to her, from one who knows they are different from the whole rest of the world. Suddenly needing to escape that look, Elmyra stood from her chair to go back into the kitchen. "I'll make us some soup, would you boys like that?"

Sometimes Elmyra really wondered how Aerith could have loved this wretched world…

**Author's remarks: ** I know you've been waiting for it! I finally delivered. :D They're alive, as I'm sure most of you suspected, but did you really think I could let a pair of silver-haired bishounen just die? (D'ya ever notice they're like a species, those silver-maned bishies?) Totally fuck them up though, I can definitely do. Sadistic author here, be warned. I'm just warming up.

**Translations:**

Nakimushi – basically means "crybaby", though it's literally "cry-bug." Cute huh?

Onegai – is a request or favor, and in the context I used it means something along the lines of "please." Basically the memory of Aerith is requesting an unspecified favor from her mum, in regards to Yazoo and Loz. I simply find the way the Japanese express things more elegant some times, I can't help but use it. :3


	7. Honesty You Just Can't Trust

Back at the new Seventh Heaven, there was plenty to look after to take Tifa's mind of her worries for Cloud. Finding space for all their sudden guests was quite the adventure, though at least Vincent declined the need for lodging.

Of course Nanaki never minded just curling up on a rug on the floor, and it wasn't as though Cait Sith took up much space or needed to be made comfortable as Reeve had his own bed in his own home. Tifa still found it sort of fascinating that the ex-Shin-Ra executive managed to do so much just by remote… But then it was really just a more constructive and whimsical take on standard Shin-Ra tactical robotics, wasn't it?

But with the additions of Yuffie, Barret and Cid, and the return of the children, there wasn't really enough to go around… Of course if Tifa and Yuffie shared a bed… It was a thought the bar hostess didn't really relish, remembering the flailing, angular nature of the ninja girl in sleep. But Cloud hadn't come back just yet, and might not for who knew how long, so they could give his bed to Cid or Barret for a time. That left one of them out though… And if Cloud came back some time in the night after all, where would that put him? Though given he'd been staying on the floor of the Sector 5 church for quite a while now, he might just grab a patch of rug with Nanaki. The mental image made Tifa smile softly, Cloud curled up back to back with the giant cat.

Which only lead her to think more on this situation of sleeping arrangements, and how she'd much prefer that if Cloud came sneaking in to the bar in the middle of the night, he'd be able to slip in with her instead. Maybe if she put Yuffie with Marlene…? Hm. Yes, Yuffie and Marlene together, the rest of their children in their own beds, the singles set up like a dormitory in the second room of the bar. That room used to house pool tables until she and Cloud had converted it. …There was a couch that either Cid or Barret could take, probably Cid as he was lankier and less likely to feel cramped. Then there was the second bed upstairs for the other and if they did it that way, Tifa could keep to herself and hope…

But it would be terribly disappointing to wake up in the morning alone. Almost certain she would, Tifa sighed softly and considered things again. She might as well put up with Yuffie's tossing and turning after all, Marlene's bed wasn't all that big anyway. …Though after all they'd been through, Tifa wondered if the children would be alright sleeping by themselves… The kids didn't understand really anything of what had happened, and though most of them were sitting around the bar being regaled with nearly the entire tale of AVALANCHE's adventures, some might still be afraid that silver-haired men with green cat eyes would come after them in the night. To be truthful, Tifa was…

But that thought she immediately suppressed, busying herself with the large pot of soup now cooking over the stove. Reno and Rude swore that the brothers were eradicated, Kadaj was contained in Shin-Ra's care and Sephiroth had been soundly defeated. Almost all of the children were now well anyway, and if she understood correctly it was their affliction with Geostigma that had made them targets. Those who'd been gathered by the three brothers had almost all been outside when the rains began to fall, the tears of the Planet raining down forgiveness, deliverance from Jenova's original sin. All except-

"Tifa! TIFA! It's Denzel!" It was Marlene, calling her from the upstairs room where Denzel had lain down to rest. The excitement had eventually caught up to him and worn him out, which wasn't an unusual symptom to the disease, but the panic flooding Marlene's voice was indication enough that things had taken a significantly different turn.

Tifa dropped her spoon and flicked off the gas stove with out a thought, dashing from the kitchen to the staircase, leaping up three at a time. In the bedroom Marlene was crouched above the collapsed boy, bedding and blankets pulled askew as though he'd fallen while trying to stand.

"No, no, no, no, no… Not yet, not him…!" Tifa knelt beside them quickly, ignoring the sound of footsteps pounding up the staircase after her. It was only a small relief to find Denzel still breathing, but much more softly than he should, looking very pale and wane. The dark blotch on his forehead had bloomed further, was coming down around his left eye now and Tifa had a sinking feeling that it was working faster, closer to the brain.

_But there's no treatment for it!_ She wanted to slam her fists into the floor, only restraining herself because she knew she couldn't lose it in front of Marlene. Why had he been the only one to stay inside? Why should he suffer for not knowing what the Planet would do? She was at a total loss. No one here knew any better what could possibly be done, and to be honest, she didn't know if anyone in the world would. But if there was anyone who understood all that had really happened at the end of all the fighting, they were at the Healin Lodge.

Grasping quickly for the cell phone at her hip, she thumbed the speed dial and stood back from Denzel, pointing urgently for Barret or Cid to get him back into the bed. She listened to the ringer cycle anxiously, growling and doing her best to restrain herself from flinging her phone as a polite female operator informed her she could not get through.

Feeling a gentle tug at her pleated skirt back, she looked down into Marlene's concerned face with impatient questioning. "Ano… He dropped it. In the forest in the north." She looked almost afraid to tell Tifa, as though some how she might be held responsible for Cloud's becoming unreachable, but Tifa gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Thanks, Marlene, I'd have been calling him for ages if you hadn't told me," standing straight again, she sighed softly and terminated the useless call, looking at her phone for an exasperated moment before dialing again. Only a few hours ago she'd been contemplating breaking Reno's lanky body into several different pieces, now she found herself needing his help again. Maybe the Planet was trying to tell her something, or maybe it was just the nature of a TURK. The term "necessary evil" had never so aptly applied.

**VIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVII**

"It's a call from Tifa, then." The phone came flying across the bed from the doorway where Reno stood once again, and though Cloud woke from his internal thoughts immediately and put out his hand in plenty of time, he couldn't catch the little flip-phone. Kadaj had it before him.

The look of annoyance registering on the TURK's face was gratifying to the silver-haired youth, who was making a point that he wouldn't let them get the jump on him again. Still, as though it had just been a misunderstanding Reno clarified, "For Cloud. Can't think of a damned reason she'd want to talk to _you_."

Even given her name, Kadaj didn't know who the caller was, and with a shrug just handed the phone off to Cloud. A feminine voice had been questioning over the momentary pause anyway, and it would be impolite to keep her waiting. Once he'd relinquished the phone, he kept one Makou eye on the red-haired TURK who was lounging with affected nonchalance against the open sliding doorway, pretending not to do the same in return. But both men behaved themselves for now, there were the children to think of after all…

"What…?" The concern in his niisan's voice distracted Kadaj slightly, dividing his attention momentarily. "How long ago? … He still hasn't woken? … Ah. They were cured? How? … Sou ka. Denzel was inside then." Denzel… For some reason it was a familiar name…

Yes, the little girl Loz had brought had had particular concern for that boy. Did he mean something special to his niisan? Those ocean blue eyes were watching Kadaj now, as Cloud spoke. There was something going on behind those eyes, beneath that head of golden hair. "Kadaj? Recovering quickly. No, I don't really know any more about it… Un. …I'll come," then he'd hung up the phone and tossed it back to Reno.

Kadaj sat up further, spreading his hands out on the bed, "Where are you going? Wait a minute, you can't leave me here with these…" He fixed Reno with a sneering glare, the TURK returning it with a childish raspberry. Returning his gaze to Cloud, who now stood uncertainly from his chair, Kadaj silently implored him to stay.

Cloud regarded the renegade Avatar for the same silent moment, uncertain, not entirely trusting, before bending closer to speak more quietly. "I don't like the thought of giving you dangerous ideas… but you're holding this entire hospital hostage, in effect. You don't need me here to watch out for you, but one of the children has become very sick and I have to go back to see what can be done for him. The Geostigma's spreading…"

Kadaj fell silent, looking deeply disquieted. After a moment Cloud moved to go, but the boy jerked his head up suddenly, "Wait! You swore!" Cloud stopped and looked back to him, Reno straightening up against the door. The atmosphere was brittle as glass, potentially explosive, but Kadaj broke the tense eye contact first, looking down to rip the tape from the back of his hand and pull the IV needles from his skin again. "Fine. I'm going with you."

"Ohtto! How far do you think you're going to get in that nightgown then?" Reno nodded his head in Kadaj's direction, but the boy just looked up as though Reno should know better.

"You can't expect me to believe you're not prepared for me, not here. It's only been a few months now, there will be something on hand. Get it." He pointed to the door, directing Reno to fetch… whatever it was that he was after. Reno looked extremely nonplussed to be thus ordered.

"Look here, you little brat! If you think their gonna just release you, in your condition, after everything you did-"

"If you think you can keep me here, you're deeply mistaken, and if it comes down to walking out of here in nothing but a damned hospital gown then so be it, but I **won't** be held prisoner by you people again." And in spite of both Cloud and Reno's expectations for Kadaj's physical condition, the boy threw aside the sheets and stood from the bed with out so much as slouching in discomfort. "Now. Get me something to wear, or get me the president."

Reno just stared for a moment before turning right around and marching out. The appearance of the president was almost certain, given Kadaj had suddenly resumed his driven, demanding persona. There was no safe way of ignoring that. The clothing, however… Well, it would be interesting to see if Kadaj's natural talent for command had any effect on the Shin-Ra company man.

As soon as Reno was gone though, Kadaj leaned back against the bed again, looking slightly fatigued. All the children who were still awake were discretely watching the strange looking teen, upset by his belligerence which was disturbing the wing's quiet atmosphere. Cloud stepped up to the boy's side, touching his shoulder lightly, a silent query into his condition.

Kadaj smiled ever so softly, glancing to the side. "I'm alright… It seems as though Mother hasn't quite abandoned me yet…" The smirk grew a little as Cloud's eyes widened, brows coming together in confusion and concern. Kadaj continued. "You didn't think it was all over did you…? That kid still has Geostigma, on top of that it's getting worse, and I'm getting better and better, healing faster minute to minute…"

The would-be SOLDIER took a cautious step back, watching Kadaj, trying to guess at the Avatar's thoughts. Noticing, the silvery headed youth just gave a small, single shoulder shrug. "I don't know what that means any more than you do, Niisan. I don't know what I'm going to do. …Yazoo and Loz are… and the Shin-Ra… Mother and Sephiroth…" He pushed one slender hand back through his watery hair, nervously, evasive. "They used us, like they used you. … I don't know what I'm going to do," he repeated at last, though it sounded less as though he was simply lost, more that he feared what all this might come to.

Nodding once, Cloud turned himself and leaned against the bed next to Kadaj, waiting for the return of Rufus and his lackey. The silence stretched on between them, but finally Cloud decided to take advantage of the relative privacy. "You said you wouldn't be held here again…"

"Ah. Where did you think we came from? But of course, we have Shin-Ra to thank for our miserable existences… I don't know much about it. The man who caused all this took everything he knew to the grave with him, as far as I've been told… But as I understand it, we were supposed to be the proof that Sephiroth was not a fluke, and… insurance against his possible demise…"

"Hojo, hm?"

Kadaj nodded. "We were born in his labs, trained and equipped by the best in Shin-Ra's military, monitored, studied… They moved us a few times; they never told us the names of the towns. Eventually we were brought here. They took us to Midgar for testing from time to time, but they needed space for our combat training. The hills and plains around here didn't get much traffic, except for the more unsavory sort, thanks to the savage wildlife, so..."

"But the population never even questioned the convenient existence of a medical facility beyond the reach of Meteor's devastation. They were too grateful to find it suspicious," Rufus stood just outside the door, and when he had the attention of the two, gestured for them to come out from the recovery room where other ears could overhear. Even if they were just children, Rufus didn't want them party to enough details to be believed. Explaining the disappearance of an entire wing of patients would be annoying at best.

"Kadaj and his brothers were just one of the pet projects Hojo managed to talk my father into funding after the successful birth and promising development of the young Sephiroth. Much of what his work entailed, even we aren't aware of the full details. Though it is embarrassing to admit, some things he carried out with our complete ignorance; your companion Vincent Valentine and his unique talents for example. The TURKs department had him listed as missing and presumed dead, until he resurfaced with your group two years ago.

"However, Hojo had my father's full compliance with the brothers up until the incident at Nibleheim. After that we limited their movement significantly, kept them mostly confined within the facility. After Meteor we believed the effects the pull to Reunion had had on them had dissipated… As it turned out, they never were the same."

Kadaj smirked softly, listening to Rufus' technical explanation of their situation, a nice little summary that completely omitted all the pain and frustration the brothers suffered at the corporation's hands and under the influence of Sephiroth's return, Jenova's pull toward the North Crater, and Reunion. "What he means to say is I went quietly mad and bided my time until I could cut a bloody path out of here for my brothers and myself."

Rufus frowned, disapprovingly. "You've always had a flare for the dramatic." They stopped outside the door to a private office which Reno opened for them, the politeness a tad exaggerated as he bowed and gestured the two young fighters through. A nurse stood to the side of the exam table inside, holding a bundle of black cloth and leather in her arms, looking to the new occupants a bit nervously. Kadaj smiled wryly and gave a small, familiar wave in her direction. She set down the bundle on the exam table hurriedly, and took hold of the curtain edge which would cordon off the exam space for Kadaj to change.

Rufus gestured for the boy to step inside, the nurse drawing the curtain quickly, and immediately after she took her leave. As Kadaj worked out his new apparel, Rufus continued speaking. Why he was being so forth coming was a bit of a mystery to Cloud, until…

"As I'm sure you will agree, Shin-Ra in its current incarnation can hardly be blamed for the mistakes my father so foolishly made, though we have accepted the responsibility of correcting them, to the best of our abilities. Unfortunately we are still just coming to understand what problems overspending and mismanagement have left for us to deal with, the Jenova project arguably the largest and most complex.

"Ideally, the men immediately responsible would be made to resolve all the mistakes and confusion, but that entire era of Shin-Ra management has been swept away, with the exception of myself and Reeve, the minority opposition. As I have said, the Shin-Ra company will continue to shoulder the burden left by the previous generation, but these are issues which affect the Planet at large, and specifically involve and concern the two of you. Your assistance will be vital in the continued rehabilitation of this world… If Shin-Ra would profit from that aid as well, I sincerely hope you will not spite the Planet to show us resistance."

A soft sigh issued from between the lips of the now clothed Kadaj as he pushed away the curtain for himself, wearied by Rufus' windy speeches, and looking unimpressed with Rufus' attempts to cover the company's ass. The leather ensemble that he wore now hardly differed in a single detail from the one before, disguising any evidence that the struggle only half a day before had ever taken place. Kadaj smiled in droll amusement as he felt the eyes of the three men on him. "I knew you had a spare," the comment mostly directed toward Reno.

Apparently not about to receive any certain confirmation of aid from either of them, Rufus decided not to push it further, for the moment, shifting the conversation to more immediate matters. "I've taken the liberty of arranging transportation and escort back to Midgar. Rude and Reno will continue to accompany you, Kadaj, and I will accept no refusal." It did indeed appear as though the boy had been on the verge of rapid protest. "The Shin-Ra Corporation still has a great deal of interest in your movements, and cannot be expected to release you with out some level of insurance.

"However, they are also under orders to protect you as long as you make no movements against us. You are only one man now, Kadaj, only one child to speak truthfully, and you may have more enemies than you know," Rufus concluded and motioned for Reno to lead the way. With a bit of a scowl, the TURK pushed himself up from the rolling stool on which he'd sat, slouched against the countertop, and strode out of the exam room, jerking his own hand for the two to follow.

When they reached the facility's small, underground parking structure, Rude was already waiting, a long black sedan pulled up in front of the sliding doors, engine idling in preparation for a quick departure. A small squad of uniformed guards was approaching with a pair of unwieldy objects carried between them, and Cloud wasn't the only one to take notice of the amused and delighted light that suddenly flashed in Kadaj's eyes, to recognize Souba being brought along with Cloud's sword after all. The two weapons were loaded into the car's spacious trunk, and Kadaj made a point of flashing Reno a smug look as he slid into the car, the trunk lid closing with a sort of marked finality.

Reno had to restrain himself from slamming the door on the kid's coat tails before turning to take his place in the driver's seat. Before either TURK climbed in to the car, Reno flashed his partner a glare of irritation over the roof, Rude returning it with a shrug that just made the red-head sneer.

Once they'd settled in Reno floored the gas, growling under his breath, "I can't believe Rufus really gave him back that fucking thing…"

**Author's remarks:** Wee! Getting into the triplets' back story! Hehehe, fun stuff. I've been theorizing on this since I first saw the trailers and now that I've watched the movie a couple score times I've got some definite ideas on the wherefores and hows of their individual existences. Rufus just gave us a glossed over version in this chapter, but believe you me, that's not the last of the mystery revealed. Not by a long shot.

Bwahahaha!

Much evilness going on in my squirmy little brain. A big shout-out to Jehraldeen whose feed-back and e-mails have been a major help for me to work out specific plot points. Expect both hetero and yaoi pairings in the future of this story! And lots more TURK involvement. Wee!

**Translations:**

Uhm… not much to translate for this chapter, unless you really don't understand the interjections "Ano" and "Ohtto!" the first being "Um" and the second somewhere along the lines of "Well, then!"

Yeah, that's about it. :D Please keep R&Rin'!


	8. A Stay of Condemnation

The celebrations of victory within the Seventh Heaven had come to a complete halt. No one told stories now, no one was ordering drinks. Everyone was quiet and listless, a few children had decided to turn in to sleep. From all the restless tossing and turning, Tifa didn't think they were managing very well.

She could only imagine how guilty some of them must feel, being well now and one of their friends perhaps on the edge of death. It wasn't anything they could have helped, they hadn't known where Denzel was to tell him, or that he'd even needed to be told. Many were wondering now if other friends within the slums might have similarly been passed over, and if to Tifa's adult conscience, which had suffered countless battles and losses that idea wasn't fair, she could only imagine how deeply frustrating it must be in their youthful innocence.

Marlene and Barret were upstairs with Denzel, the rest of the group watching over the those who were still awake. Yuffie had finally managed to round up the last of the children who'd gone missing from Wutai, and now the need for sleeping space had grown even worse than before. It looked like all of the adults would be crashing on the floor. Tifa was fine with that though, all romantic ideas of a clandestine reception for her beloved hero had been extinguished by Denzel's collapse.

Now she simply waited with the rest, occasionally standing to pace, sometimes walking to the door and out onto the porch, into the cool of the night. The more she thought about it, the more certain she was there wouldn't be anything that Cloud could do, after all… but Denzel had looked up to him so very much, and he'd wanted Cloud to come back. Even if he didn't wake up from this, Tifa was sure Denzel would know Cloud had been there for him, one last time. But she didn't want to think like that. Better to hope the presence of his own hero would inspire Denzel to come around, to keep on fighting, at least a little longer.

Her hopes soared as the long black car pulled up in front of the bar, Cloud getting out even before it had completely stopped, Reno cursing in the front as he tried not to get the fighter killed. She rushed down to meet him, this time getting her well-needed hug, but then the other occupants of the car were disembarking, and came that flash of familiar silvery hair. Her look of confusion quickly fell to unmasked distrust, but the boy seemed to pay no attention to it, making his way to the back of the car and waiting expectantly.

Reno's look of apology was surprisingly genuine, sharing Tifa's distress and he pocketed the keys without opening the trunk. "No way, Junior, it's nothing but kids in there. I don't care what Rufus says on this one, the sword stays where it is. Pretty sure it's a policy in there anyway, then. Ain't that right, Neechan?"

Tifa nodded firmly, though from what she'd seen, Kadaj was a walking weapon in and of himself. So she didn't make a point of Rude and Reno's nightsticks, tucked beneath their jackets, even if she'd normally have taken them behind the bar. Looking up to Cloud again she hissed, "What is he _doing_ here, anyway? Why did you bring any of these creeps around my bar?"

"Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer," Vincent's smooth velvet voice issued from the doorway, arms folded across his chest, eyes on Kadaj. "As long as he is here with us, we can be certain he isn't planning an attack we won't anticipate. …Also, I don't believe he has anywhere else to go… The orphaned _sueko_, once again."

Kadaj's gaze averted suddenly, and he walked away from the trunk of the car. Cloud coerced Tifa into going back inside with him, though she looked near ready to deck him the whole way, proceeding the younger warrior while the TURKs flanked on either side. Kadaj stopped on the porch in front of Vincent, just before stepping over the threshold. "Kimi… kuwashii ne." The words rung softly with the restrained resentment that smoldered like green embers inside his eyes.

"Mm. Dou ka na." The gun slinger's crimson gaze revealed nothing but mystery, a wall to Kadaj's attempts at reading him. He wanted to know how the other regarded him, whether with contempt or with pity, but Kadaj couldn't fathom him. Giving up at last he dragged his gaze away, stepped through the door, and smiled as the room fell silent.

All the happy, hopeful greetings from the children for Cloud died on their paling lips, and around the room the adults stood suddenly, tensed, unprepared for Kadaj's arrival. Several of the orphans crowded behind some one bigger than themselves, remembering well the imposing older boy and the things he'd made them do. Yuffie looked ready to leap across the room at him, if he took one false step.

But Kadaj just spread his hands and turned his back to show he was unarmed, relatively, which put him face to face with a sneering Reno for the moment. He knew better, and the red-head gave the boy a shove back around forward, propelling him further inside. Cloud was doing his best to reassure the children that they had nothing to fear while he was there, then Tifa was directing him toward the bedroom, toward Denzel.

Kadaj followed after, and received the same tense and fearful greeting from Barret and Marlene. In fact had an arm-mounted gun trained on him the moment he appeared in the door frame, but even Barret knew better than to fire inside the Seventh Heaven unless absolutely pushed to fight.

"It's alright, Barret. He's not going to do anything," Cloud waved Barret down, and after a reluctant moment the ex-AVALANCHE leader lowered his weapon, but Marlene was still afraid. Almost covering Denzel by leaning over with her own small body, her wide eyes, brows knit upward in distress, darted back and forth between her familiar friend and his sinister companion.

Kadaj merely stationed himself just inside the door while Cloud walked further inside. Marlene vacated the chair she'd sat in for Cloud, standing behind him so that she was shielded from her former captor's gaze while the former mercenary slid his fingers through Denzel's hair, pushing back his squirrelly bangs to get a better look. It seemed almost as though some one had socked the boy right in the eye, except it wasn't the healthy organic purple of a normal bruise, but an ashen greyish black, unnatural, and from the corner of his eye Denzel slowly wept discoloured tears.

Indeed the outlook wasn't good at all. Cloud had watched many of the orphans die at this stage, before it had become too much for him, before he'd started showing signs of the infection himself and felt he'd had to leave. After all that had happened, in the last two years, in the last two days, it hurt him deeply to think that there was nothing he could do for this one boy, this one kid who had so looked up to him. If he could rescue an entire Planet, well it seemed almost ridiculous that he couldn't do anything for one small child.

It was something one could almost feel in the air, the break down of hope inside the room. It was confusing to Kadaj at first, the shift in the atmosphere with out anyone speaking, with out anyone really doing anything at all. The TURKs standing on the other side of the door had suddenly lost their fierceness though, the same with the large man with the gun arm, and both his niisan and the woman called Tifa seemed bowed under an invisible weight that hadn't been there only a moment before. Only a second later and that little girl started crying. The entire scene disturbed him immensely.

Cloud gathered the weeping girl into his arms, tucked his mouth against the top of her head and closed his own eyes to hold back the pain. After another brief and helpless moment, Reno reached over to tap the kid on the shoulder, get him to go out to the front room and give the rest a moment of peace, but he missed as Kadaj stepped forward, clocking his knuckles on the door frame instead.

As he moved closer Kadaj confirmed for himself which of the orphans they'd taken it was, able to place him and the girl-child together in his mind. These two had been the particular reason his niisan had come to the Sleeping Forest in the first place; they were special to him.

For the first time in a long time, no eyes were turned on the silver-haired youth with any sort of mistrust or suspicion. Most were unaware of him, save the TURKs who regarded him more with a curious wonder. Reaching the side of the bed, opposite Cloud and Marlene, Kadaj knelt and surveyed the rampant spread of the Geostigma for himself, silent, considering…

The sound of Denzel stirring caused both Marlene and Cloud to turn their eyes back on the ailing child. It had only been a small sound, barely a whimper, but the silence in the room was nearly deafening, and any noise was amplified. After a moment, Marlene's large brown eyes focused beyond the still unconscious boy, to the older one beside him. Something in the teen's gaze seemed to change, become less hard and narrow… Something serene and familiar suffused the Makou glow, turning it warm instead of cold. Marlene drew in a tiny breath, and looked back to Denzel.

She could watch the blackened splotch retreat. It moved back across his flesh like poison being drawn from a wound, leaving clear if still pale skin in its regressing wake. The further back it pushed, the more Denzel's eyelids began to flutter, and finally he came awake, looking around blearily. Marlene gasped.

Denzel took everything in very slowly. He registered Marlene there, and with her was Cloud, and he tried to offer the pair of them a grateful smile. After a moment though, he turned his head aside, regarding Kadaj quietly, waiting while the other's consciousness came back to the present. Blinking his own eyes a few times to clear his head, Kadaj took in one deep breath and let it go as a long and quiet sigh, once again assessing the syndrome's scar. It was small now, thin and resembling almost a seven-point star over the boy's left eyebrow. "Gomen…" and his quiet voice held genuine apology. "I can't completely…"

He sat suddenly, heavily, turning to lean his shoulders into the wall. Tifa rushed forward to see what had happened to Denzel, only able to infer that Kadaj had done _something_ to him from where she'd stood. But the younger boy had pushed himself up as she'd run to check on him and seeing him better, the fighting girl was thoroughly confused. Hands on Denzel's shoulders still, she tore her gaze away from the greatly minimized scar at last and looked down to the young man she'd assumed to be nothing but a threat to them, not long before.

He had his head tilted back now, eyes closed softly, and was bringing his hands up to his ears. Covering them as though to shut out some harsh and grating sound, his lashes pressed tighter against his pale cheeks, and a frown tugged at his soft mouth briefly, disappeared, then returned. Marlene suddenly broke from Cloud's arms and rushed around the bed, ruffling the train of Tifa's skirt with the speed of her passage. Crouching next to Kadaj, she rested her small hands on one of his armored shoulders.

The leather didn't seem to do anything to dull the touch though, as Kadaj's eyes flew back open, looking straight to Marlene, for a moment lost in her wide amber gaze. Gradually he lowered his hands from his head, watching the little girl intently, seemingly fascinated with something that was completely lost on the rest in the room. After a moment he murmured a bewildered, "Arigatou." He didn't even take offence that Barret was suddenly pulling Marlene back, just shook the trance and took the hand Reno offered to help him off the floor.

The TURK regarded the rouge Avatar a moment, then nodded, for the first time giving the kid a break. The red-head didn't understand exactly what had just gone down, but it was obvious enough Kadaj had helped the kid out some how. What had motivated such an uncharacteristically selfless action, Reno couldn't fathom, unless he considered the possibility he didn't understand Kadaj's entire character after all. That would definitely complicate things, but… Hell, things were already complicated.

The problem was, even Kadaj didn't really know what was happening any more. He was acting with out a point of reference, the best he had to work from was his niisan, doing what he thought Cloud wanted or expected of him. It was all too soon, all happening too fast and not the way he had expected it, no, not at all. Kadaj didn't know what he wanted from this world any more, who he was, or where his loyalties stood. But until he figured that out for himself, he knew he needed his niisan's help, and that meant trying to play good. Cloud obviously thought something of this world, of its people, considering the way he fought for them, willing even to die for them. The fierceness burning in those cerulean eyes when he'd feared all that might be taken away...

Kadaj let Rude and Reno lead him out into the bar now, taking a seat at one of the tables with them, resting himself in the corner of the booth. He was thinking too much and trying not to. He didn't want to remember any more, the thoughts, feelings and sensations of the last couple days behind him. Sleep might have been a welcome escape except that Kadaj was afraid to dream… He was certain all that awaited him was the memory… the empty coldness of a soulless mind…

When the silver-haired kid finally slumped over, sinking gradually into Reno's shoulder, the red-head just shrugged and sighed. Across the table, Rude did his best to suppress a smirk, especially when his partner shot him a warning look. Flicking his gaze down to the sleeping boy though, Reno couldn't help but think how remarkably innocent the kid looked when not awake and glaring at the world. The little cupid's bow smile that gradually dawned across his lips was nothing less than precious.

Clearing his throat and looking away, Reno searched the bar for Tifa. She was probably still back there with that kid Denzel, but damnit, the TURK sure could have used a shot of something hard.

**Author's remarks:** I don't really have much to say, except isn't the picture of Kadaj passed out on Reno's shoulder just adorable! I just love picturing him fighting sleep and losing, like a stubborn little kid. Which is really kinda what he is. :3 And now that he's zonked out, Cloud's gonna have some 'splaining to do, bwahaha.

**Translations:**

Neechan – Literally means "Big sis" but is often used by guys to call young women, kinda like "Baby," "Babe," etc. If you don't know a young woman's name and need her attention you can call her "Oneesan" which is the more polite form, Reno's just being a punk.

Sueko – Term for the youngest child in a family. In the Japanese hierarchy of siblings the Chounan, or eldest son is the most important and bears the most responsibility, thus receiving the most attention. The younger siblings have more freedom to pursue their own interests, but can feel inferior and jealous depending on how much emphasis they put having their parents' approval.

"Kimi… Kuwashii ne." - "You're… pretty knowledgeable, huh." Just sounds _much_ cooler in Japanese. Cloud calls Vincent _kuwashii_ in A.C., regarding the brothers' existence and plans.

"Mm. Dou ka na." – "Hm. I wonder." Vincent's just being evasive.

Gomen – I'm sorry

Arigatou – Thank you.


	9. Beneath the Broken Plate

Night had fallen several hours ago, plunging the land beneath the plate into even deeper darkness than the shadows of the day. Given the enormous holes eaten in the upper plate by the attacks of Weapon and Meteor, sunlight could now eek its way down under the city above, but that only made the slums seem that much more dangerous with the dieing of the light.

Elmyra's home was close and warm and cheerily lit in spite of the darkness though, a fire burning in the little fireplace, a primitive convention that had fascinated the silver-haired brothers. The widow found herself smirking constantly at their unusual ignorance and curiosity of the basic staples of her home. The long haired one, able to move about while the other was pretty well bound to the couch, had developed a habit of standing up suddenly to go and inspect a knick-knack or photograph, sometimes bringing it back to show the other man.

She wanted so much to ask them, where they could have possibly come from that they wouldn't understand such little comforts, but the leather they'd been wearing looked particularly tailored and excellently made. It bespoke money, so perhaps they were the children of a rich minimalist, they type who lived in a large, empty looking house, really no place for raising children. He'd have them studying every hour of the day, and perhaps learning a martial art and sword-play to build character. That might explain the armor…

She knew that didn't quite work out correctly, but she wasn't so worldly as to come up with anything better on her own. She'd had enough run ins with Shin-Ra's TURKs that she might have thought in the corporation's direction, but for the last two years she hadn't heard a single thing from the destroyed company. Apparently they had no interest in coming around her place any more, now that Aerith…

"You're daughter is very lovely…" The boy who'd eventually introduced himself as Yazoo was now looking at the photographs along the mantle, having crouched before the fire to watch it again a few moments before. Now standing, he picked through the pictures, careful to put everything back in its exact same place. "There's something about her smile… I don't think I've ever seen anyone smile that way, with so much warmth."

"Did your mother never smile for you? Two such handsome young boys, she had to…" Elmyra trailed off uncertainly, a stillness stealing across the room. With out even finishing the sentence, she just knew, all of a sudden, that she'd said something wrong.

"We don't know our mother," he picked up a frame with Elmyra and Aerith together, when the flower girl had been very young, leaning happily against her 'mother's hip.

"We were going to meet her, actually, before the accident…" Loz piped up softly from the couch, his head beginning to ache a little less, though Yazoo still insisted he not try to sleep it off.

"Well, that's good then, she's waiting for you. I'm sure she's very concerned for you now, she'll be that much happier to see you when you finally meet," Elmyra was sincerely pleased to hear the boys at least had a mother after all. There really were too many orphans in this world any more. However, she couldn't help but reflect on how sad it would be for their mother, to finally meet the boys and see them in this state. She didn't know much about the Geostigma syndrome, but…

"Ah-!" The boy had found something that was apparently very interesting. Putting down the picture he had, he snapped up another frame that had been tucked off to the side. Recognizing the long frame easily, it was a picture Elmyra had a difficult time looking at some times. Even though Aerith looked so happy, posing with all her friends, the most adorable stuffed Puss in Boots hanging in her arms…

"Niisan!" He strode over to his brother on the couch with long, rapid steps. "Loz, look here, she's there with Niisan!"

Taking the frame and squinting at the image, the wounded one looked up with the same confused recognition, "And the fighting girl Niisan likes."

"… and the gun slinger…" Yazoo looked up to Elmyra suddenly. "You know all these people…?"

The woman, quite caught off guard that her unexpected guests would know anyone from that picture at all, nodded slowly and stood from her knitting to get a better look with the two of them. "Yes, my daughter traveled with these people for a time… Which one are you calling 'Niisan'?"

The one called Loz pointed to the blonde haired man in the picture his brother held. "This one. He's… Like an older brother to us…" It sounded as though the circumstances would be difficult to explain, but Elmyra wasn't really surprised any longer, to think about it. With the kind of people AVALANCHE were, these two would fit right in. They must have helped each other out after Meteor, or something to that effect.

"I haven't seen that boy in… oh, many many months now. Maybe over a year. It's difficult, you see. I don't really blame him for what happened to my Aerith, but it still makes me sad, looking at him. With the way the Shin-Ra were after her, our lives would have never stayed calm, but… Sometimes I wonder if they would have turned out the same way," she stood straight and wandered to her chair, picking up the ball of yarn to start winding it back in.

"Shin-Ra, huh?" Yazoo didn't sound as though he felt very friendly toward the corporation, and Elmyra found that gratifying. The number who distrusted the company was larger than those who didn't, but there were still some die-hard supporters who discredited the claims that Shin-Ra was to blame for all that had happened. They called the news reports on a conspiracy involving SOLDIER nothing but propaganda and scape-goating. There was just no talking to people like that. Yazoo continued carefully, "Were they the ones who...?"

"Hm? Oh, no. No, no, the Shin-Ra wouldn't have killed my Aerith. They wanted her for their experiments, said that she was special, could lead them to the Promised Land. …I don't know much about what happened… At first they were all struggling against the Shin-Ra, trying to stop the company from slowly killing our Planet. Then some thing else appeared, something far more dangerous… My little girl _was_ special, she died to protect the Planet. Your niisan never told the story to you?"

Yazoo shook his head, deciding it best not to explain they'd never exchanged more than a few words with the blonde young man.

"Well, I don't blame him… It probably hurts him too much. It hurts me too, but I can say it. She was killed by a man, a former SOLDIER. The most famous SOLDIER in the world, Sephiroth. I reckon you've heard of him, the two of you. The Shin-Ra pushed that one just a little too far, had him in their experiments, like they wanted my Aerith, and in the end he just went mad, thought he could become a god if he destroyed the Planet.

"He disappeared for years and Shin-Ra just said he was dead, but he's the one who called down Meteor, you know? Not many people do, the story's just too far fetched for them to believe it, but it was him alright. And he killed my little girl when she tried to stop him…

"But Cloud finally put an end to it. He stopped Sephiroth, and then the Planet stopped the meteor. The Planet, along with my little girl…" She took the picture back and set it on the mantle, eyes sweeping over all the photos briefly, then turned back to look at the two brothers who were watching her, a sense of general familiarity with her story in their eyes. Cloud hadn't told them anything, but some one else had…

"Sephiroth… You know I'd only ever seen him in photographs and on the news… but there's something similar between him and the two of you. The silver hair, the jade glow in your eyes… You two were in the SOLDIER program, weren't you?" She hadn't been accusing, but something defensive flashed in Loz and Yazoo's faces, as though they'd just been caught in something.

Yazoo had a bad feeling it was time for them to leave. Loz wasn't exactly better yet, but this woman knew too much about all this, was known to Shin-Ra and to those who opposed their family as well. They might be found out here at any time, she might contact one or the other, tell them that Jenova's children were hiding in her home. The long-haired man put his hands on the couch cushions, moved to push himself up, to tell Loz they were going to go when suddenly the pain hit.

Cold fire coursed along every nerve in his long sinewy body, danced invisible across his corrupted skin, rushing up his arms and legs, along his spine and up his neck. It stabbed like a knife there and his hand shot up, covering the spot as though to shield it from the attack which came from within, feeling an oily secretion slip between his fingers. A static ringing filled his ears, deafening, unbearable, and the whole experience reached such a fevered pitch that Yazoo was sure he would die, his entire being just erased by the pain, before he finally passed out.

By then both Loz and Elmyra had a hold of him, so he wasn't in danger of falling to the floor. For a moment Loz was at an entire loss for what to do, but then the widow was crying, just burst into tears with a shamelessness Loz almost envied.

"DAMN SHIN-RA!" The rage that shook her voice almost seemed too much for her tiny body. "Damn their experiments and their programs and the things they do to people! It isn't fair! This shouldn't be happening, please wake up…" she implored the unconscious boy with a desperation Loz could barely comprehend. A moment ago he'd have agreed with Yazoo that she was a danger to them… but, for some strange reason, she seemed to care?

Loz's own eyes streamed with silent tears he wished he could hold back. He wanted Yazoo to wake up too, to just open his eyes, see his brother crying and make some fun of him, tell Loz he was being silly and to pull it together because there was nothing to cry about. That didn't seem too likely though, so Loz just fought the losing battle with his frustration on his own.

Yazoo was only unconscious though, at least he wasn't dead, not yet. Elmyra couldn't fathom how Cloud and Tifa did it, living with the orphans who had the disease, taking care of the terminally ill with no hope for anything but maybe at last a peaceful death. Even now, she didn't want Yazoo and Loz to be here, unable to help showing her their pain, but she'd brought them in and she wasn't about to turn them out, simply for her own convenience. Her conscience would have never let her do it, already tore her up for her current feigned indifference.

"There are beds upstairs, we can lay him down and make him comfortable," she offered Loz at last. "If we carry him together, we should be able to manage it. You can each have one, I won't be sleeping this evening."

Loz nodded once, and stood carefully, making sure he had his own balance well enough as he slipped Yazoo's hand over his shoulders, wrapping his own strong arm about him. Elmyra offered her own small strength to help keep the two from toppling over as they made their way slowly up the stairs, and at last settled them in to the beds, one hers, the other her daughter's, not touched since she'd lost her darling Aerith. Well, Marlene had stayed there, but…

Now Yazoo was nestled beneath those old, clean sheets, blankets pulled up around him tenderly. Loz sat himself down upon Elmyra's mattress, but didn't lie down just yet, only watched his ill and sleeping brother. He could see the syndrome's scar climbing Yazoo's pale, thin throat, disappearing into his silvery mane, now starting to crawl along the hairline and hiding behind his ear.

The widow Elmyra brought up the folded tatters of their uniforms, inquired one last time if Yazoo or Loz needed anything, and finally excused herself downstairs, leaving the young man alone to contemplate their plight. Why was this happening? He wondered for the millionth time, why them? Weren't they Mother's chosen…? But that's why they needed so badly to meet her. She had to be able to do something for them.

Picking through the wreckage of their uniforms, he came up with his cell phone at last. The little thing had been through hell with them, but Shin-Ra knew their style of action and made sure their equipment could stand up. Loz didn't have very many numbers on his register at all, barely had to open the flip phone before it was dialing Kadaj. He listened to it cycle a few times before it finally picked up.

"Shibaraku, Loz…" It wasn't Kadaj.

The voice on the other end of the phone was too deep. Just as cocky and full of subtle power as his younger brother's but markedly different. Older, and if possible, more sinister. "Shin-Ra Shachou."

"Very good, I wasn't certain you would recognize me… Kadaj handling everything the way he did. Honestly, I kept the phone to see, but I hadn't expected to get your call. Seems my men might be losing their edge after all… Disappointing, eh?"

Loz was severely tempted just to hang up, but he restrained himself. "Where's Kadaj?" he demanded simply.

"Safe… Is your brother with you? I imagine he must be. Give him my regards, ne?"

Now Loz did hang up, angrily. He understood they were at a disadvantage now, confirming to Shin-Ra they hadn't died, but at least now Loz knew they had Kadaj, too. Once Yazoo was awake and a little better, they'd have to go to him and find out what the Shin-Ra had done with Mother. Loz was sure they'd hidden her again.

All that trouble, all that effort. And now they were practically back to square one. It would only have been worse if Shin-Ra had all of them, locked back inside the labs. Angry and listless, Loz began exploring the simple civilian amenities of this small room, still fascinated with its warmth in comparison to the sterile, empty little rooms Loz had lived in while with Shin-Ra. Severely institutional. Loz was barely even familiar with the meaning of the word "home."

Opening a little drawer near the bed where Yazoo slept, Loz came upon the most unusual looking volume he had ever, ever seen. The book was small, fuzzy, and… pink. Anything he'd ever read had been bound in either plain leather or paper. And they definitely hadn't been… scented. Floral perfume wafted from the white lined pages as Loz cracked the cover of the velvet book, and found the writing inside near incomprehensible for its immense decorative loopiness.

Gradually he came to recognize the name "Aerith," signed at the bottom of every other page or so, and toward the middle of the book he began to notice the word "SOLDIER" printed here and there, more easily deciphered for its complete capitalization than the rest of the regular script.

All at once he missed several pages, the book opening itself thanks to a photograph that had been tucked inside, now sticking up at him as though the book had put out its tongue in thwarting him. Loz pulled it out and was about to search back for his spot when the contents of the photo caught his eye and he stopped, sticking his thumb in to hold the new place instead.

Able to inspect the picture now, he recognized vaguely the docks of a city they'd been through once before, as Shin-Ra had transported them. Standing on those docks together, in front of a great Shin-Ra military transport barge was the girl from all the photographs downstairs, a black haired man Loz didn't know, and the most important figure: Sephiroth.

The girl and the other man were locked in an embrace, holding each other tightly and smiling so big you could see the months of loneliness ended etched upon their happy faces. The man had one arm out though, hung around Sephiroth's shoulders with immense familiarity, and the special SOLDIER 1st Class just stood there smirking softly, amused with the couple's happiness, though not appearing to have much of his own.

The photograph was dated somewhere around the end of the Wutai War with the loopy caption "Reunited in Junon – Aerith, Zack, and Sephiroth" framed in little hearts. Loz's brows knit in intense confusion, everything getting so convoluted, with him understanding none of it.

First this girl was pictured with all the people who'd tried to stop Reunion. Now here she was, standing with Sephiroth himself. Nudging the rousing Yazoo with the spine of the little pink book, Loz held out the photograph before his brother's opening eyes. "Ne, Yazoo… Nani yo, kore…"

Yazoo scrunched his face with the slightly rude greeting on his waking, still feeling ill from his collapse. But he reached out and took the picture, once he recognized its contents, inspecting carefully what Loz had brought to show him. "Where did you get this…?" And Loz promptly handed him the fuzzy velvet book, thumb still holding the picture's pages.

Propping himself on one elbow, Yazoo quickly deciphered the round feminine script. "The war in Wutai is finally over, and Zack came in to Junon today. They're going to have a parade for all the returning troops tomorrow, but Zack just says he wants to go home. He brought me another Wutai dress, those things are so very pretty. He says he'll take me dancing soon, so maybe I'll get to wear it.

"He also introduced me to the General Sephiroth at last. He wrote so much about his general in his letters home to me, but no matter how he said it, words just can't describe how utterly quiet this man is. Zack says it's not even the war that's done it to him, he's just always been that way.

"I have to admit, the General is kind of scary, though Zack says he's really the most gentle guy. I guess honor is a big thing for him, and they weren't kidding in the news when they said he'd only use his sword. Apparently he never once picked up a gun, but Zack says some one like Sephiroth doesn't need anything like that. He says he can parry bullets with his blade and that his strength and fighting is other worldly.

"I guess that's a sore spot for Sephiroth though, Zack told me not to mention it. Zack insists the General is a lot like me, though I find that difficult to believe. He says we get quiet in the same sort of way, says we say strange things at the strangest moments. I told him to shut his trap! … So, maybe the General and I do have something a little bit in common. We don't like people noticing we're different.

"I think that's why Zack and he are such good friends. I think Zack understands him in a way no one else could, the way Zack understands me. He's such a wonderful guy, my Zack. I hope he proposes to me some day. Now that the war is over, we can really start getting serious, go steady and all that stuff again. He says Shin-Ra will still have work for him to do, even during times of peace, but nothing that should take him away again, permanently.

"I sure hope that's true. I couldn't bear to be with out him… From what he says, the General lives in Midgar, too, so I guess I'll be seeing a lot more of him… I guess that might be okay. Zack says he has faith that I can get "Seph" to loosen up, says no guy could resist a girl as cute as me! I suppose I do have a way with people but… Well, we'll just have to see about things. The General just doesn't strike me as the kind who likes dancing… Aerith Gainsborough, Junon Harbor, May 14th."

Yazoo looked up at his brother, shrugging helplessly. It was starting to become clear, there was a puzzle spreading out in front of them, and the pictures downstairs, along with this diary, were part of that puzzle's key. However, where it all lead to Yazoo didn't know. "Maybe Kadaj knows something about this. We'll ask him when we go to meet him." He sighed in exhaustion heavily. Noticing Loz looking a little uncomfortable, Yazoo tilted his head to the side in suspicious questioning.

Loz sucked in a deep, prepatory breath, glancing to his cell-phone worriedly.

**Remarks: ** I've always been a fan of the idea that Aerith and Sephiroth were acquainted once upon a time. Considering her boyfriend, Zack, and the great General Sephiroth were supposed to be war buddies, I don't find it too far fetched. Makes her murder that much cooler too, a real back-stabbing betrayal. Hm hm hm, oh I do love that Forgotten City CG scene…

**Translations: **

Shibaraku – Kinda like "Long time, no see" a casual way of expressing it's been a while since you've heard from some one.

Shachou – Head of the company, President.

"Nani yo, kore?" – "What the hell is this?"Again, just easier to imagine it coming out of Loz' mouth if I write it in Japanese.


	10. Explainations or Excuses

The entire company once calling themselves AVALANCHE now gathered in the bedroom with those who had watched over Denzel. Some stood leaned against the wall, like Barret, Cid, and Vincent, strong and stoic, watching Cloud with silent, expectant disapproval. Yuffie and Nanaki had taken seats on the floor, the ninja girl holding the curiously fidgeting Cait Sith in her arms. Marlene now sat on the mattress by Denzel and Tifa on the bed just opposite Cloud, who had settled in the chair again.

It had a distinct impression of that hotel lobby at the Golden Saucer, everyone waiting to be brought up to speed, Cloud not certain he could satisfy everyone's particular curiosity. But Tifa was watching him so anxiously, wanting him to say something that would put her worries at ease… He hated that he would likely let her down…

Leaning his elbows against his knees, Cloud clasped his hands together, trying to think of where he should begin. If he should start with what he'd learned from Shin-Ra, if he should explain exactly what had happened in his battle with Kadaj and Sephiroth, if…

Before he could waste any more time thinking though, trying to choose, Barret Wallace, who had never been a model of patience spoke up first with the matter that concerned him most. "What in hell is that kid doin' here in the Seventh Heaven, Cloud? After all we been through with that punk, after all these kids been through 'cause of him. What is goin' through your spiky little head?"

It was obvious the former AVALANCHE leader was trying not to shout, trying not to lose it on Cloud in front of his daughter and another child. "That boy and his gang took my daughter away, along with all those orphans. What makes you think it's any kind of bright idea, bringin' him 'round here like this?"

Of course, Barret had to pose the most difficult question, the one Cloud would have the hardest time answering, first of all. The entire room had eyes on him now, everyone wondering the same thing. In his place almost every one of them would have left Kadaj to die. Barret saw thing too sharply contrasted, always either black or white. Tifa would fear too much that the nightmare would begin again. Yuffie, Nanaki and Cid, probably the same. Cait Sith, that was, Reeve, would try to erase another of Shin-Ra's old sins and Vincent would quietly consign the child along with the monster into memory.

Though looking up into the former TURKs glowing ruby eyes Cloud believed that one man understood his motivations already, better than them all.

"Not too very long ago, less even than a day ago, I believed myself a waste of skin, a wasted life, not worth the living. I believed I'd failed everyone dear to me, that even if I made the effort I was too flawed to rescue anyone. Every one of you pushed me to see otherwise. Every one of you wanted me to see that I was more than a marionette with his strings cut, that if I tried to move on my own I could do anything I needed or wanted to. Finally, I believed you.

"During my last battle with Kadaj he revealed something to me. The Avatars knew nothing of Jenova's true objectives, only blindly following her will. Kadaj was never meant to be anything but the perfect host for Sephiroth. He said to me, 'At best I am a puppet, like you long ago. The same.' …"

Tifa's chestnut eyes shimmered, fingers twisting in the bed sheets. "You really think he's like you…? You think you need to do this, to really save yourself!"

Cloud met her accusing glare, a little surprised she'd take it that way. "I can't choose my battles, Tifa! Didn't you tell me that? I can't run away just because the responsibility feels too heavy, or because I think I might not succeed. I don't know if I can do anything for that boy at all. Like Sephiroth, he might be lost to Jenova already, but I can't just make that assumption because I want to go back to living peacefully.

"I believe Kadaj stands on a threshold, one I've stood on before. He can give in to Jenova and her madness, or he can pull himself back and fight. She's doing the same thing to him that she once did to me, she's making him believe he should just give in. But I'm standing in her way because he sees me too. He calls me 'brother' and he sees me fight and he knows it can be different. He's already testing the waters, look what he's done for Denzel. He had to thwart Jenova to accomplish that," he took her hand in his, imploring, "Please, trust in me…"

Tifa finally broke down into tears and threw her arms around Cloud's neck, desperately. He did his best to hold her comfortingly, but he wasn't sure she really understood. Barret hardly looked convinced at all and pushed away from the wall, walking with heavy footfalls over to Marlene. "Start packing your suitcase, kiddo, we're leaving in the morning."

The little girl looked up, surprised, putting a hand on Denzel's shoulder, "Papa? Why?"

Barret fixed his features sternly. "I don't trust that kid. After what happened near the Shin-Ra building, I don't believe you're safe around him. If Strife thinks he can handle a time-bomb like that, he can have him. But I won't have you here to end up in the way. Denzel, I'd recommend you come along too."

From her place on the floor, Yuffie turned and asked uncomfortably, "Cid… Do you think you could help me getting the children back to Wutai…? Some of them have families waiting and…" She didn't really want to say out loud that she didn't trust Kadaj either. But Barret had a point. Vincent's prophecy about the boy had quickly come true, and even though Sephiroth had been defeated for now… With Kadaj still alive, could they be guaranteed he couldn't come back again…?

The pilot nodded his agreement, thoughts running along similar lines. While he believed it was more than within Cloud's capacity to handle the insane SOLDIER, it wouldn't do if kids got caught up in the cross-fire. Battles with Sephiroth, even with Kadaj, tended to get destructive. Who knew? Next time they might bring down another plate.

Cid and Yuffie left the room first, to go down and get the Wutain children gathered. Barret followed, herding Marlene and Denzel to their own room downstairs so they could begin to pack their things. Denzel still wasn't sure he wanted to go, but after listening to the adults talk he also wasn't sure he wanted to stay… It sounded like Kadaj had indeed done him a favor, but the older boy had also been more than willing to hurt him before… Rubbing his scar a bit, he wasn't sure this entirely made up for it…

That left just Cloud and Tifa, Vincent and the two felines still present in the upstairs bedroom. Tifa's crying was gradually beginning to subside, and finally she pushed back a bit to look at her dearest friend. Her smile was a little sad as she met the conviction in his luminescent blue eyes, her voice a little thick as she said, "You really have become a hero, haven't you, Cloud Strife?"

Unable to really answer that, the would-be SOLDIER just brushed away the tear tracks staining her soft cheeks.

**VIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVII**

The break of dawn in the Seventh Heaven found most of its occupants still sound asleep. Despite the few months of freedom from Shin-Ra's regiment, however, Kadaj still found himself opening his eyes with the first few rays, every single day. Discovering himself nestled snug against a TURK, though, was quite a new and unexpected experience! Not really the most pleasant, either, but he moved carefully, rather than recoiling in quick revulsion. He slid himself away gently instead and climbed up onto the table top so as not to disturb the slumbering of either of his "body-guards."

Letting himself back down onto the floor carefully, Kadaj took one last look at the sleeping men, then paced aimlessly away. The front room had apparently become the place of choice for many of the adults, obviously to keep an eye on him… The big cat was curled up near the front entrance, the stuffed animal (which he gathered to be some how 'alive') leaned up against it. The man with the gun-arm was sleeping propped against the wall near a certain closed door and his niisan was actually sleeping in the booth just across from where Kadaj and the TURKs had been. Well, the TURKs still were.

The fighting woman, the ninja, the pilot and the gunslinger were no where to be seen though, and so were all of the children. Kadaj's jadeite eyes scanned the room, trying to figure out where he might find the bathroom, and at last decided to give a shot at that side door. He opened it quietly and only partially, so as not to disturb the sleeping giant, slipping in backward so he could keep his eyes on the front room as long as possible, especially the gun-armed man.

But turning around proved that he'd chosen the wrong door. He was in a children's room, full of toys and two single beds, each containing one sleeping child, each with a set of suit-cases or duffle bags waiting at the end. Despite all his stealth, Kadaj suddenly felt a pair of wakeful eyes watching him.

"Ohayou." It was the little girl. She sat up after greeting him, yawning and stretching her tiny limbs up a moment, before reaching to the table next to the bed. She picked up a brush and hair tie, running the tool through her auburn locks a few times before dropping it in her lap and braiding her hair. "My Papa's sitting right outside, so you shouldn't try anything. You're not planning anything, are you?"

"I… No, I just came into the wrong room…" Kadaj found himself looking about the bedroom, fascinated, wondering if most children stayed in places like this…

"Okay." She picked up a rose colored ribbon, tying it carefully at the top of her braid. "Papa's taking Denzel and me away this morning. He says it's dangerous for us to be near you. My Papa doesn't do anything unless he's got a real good reason for it, so I believe him, but… I wanna thank you, for helping Denzel. I know you don't help out people often, and you didn't have to this time either. But you did, so, thank you."

Kadaj tilted his head aside, unaccustomed to communicating with some one so frank. Adults were always so evasive, and proud, and difficult to trust. But this girl had just honestly told him what she'd thought of him, two contradicting ideas all in one breath, and Kadaj found it surprisingly gratifying.

Marlene slipped out of her bed then, androgynous little body clothed in a white, lace-strap night dress with a little pink rose in the center of the v-neck. Her bare feet pattered quickly across the cold wood floor as she made her way to her dresser, taking the clothes she'd already set aside for today from the top of it. Hugging the bundle to her round little tummy, she regarded the boy in front of the door quietly a moment, before walking forward to get past.

Kadaj stepped aside and held the door for her, smirking as she smiled up at him for being such a gentleman. For a moment she didn't go out, just watched his curving shell pink lips. "Yasashii egao… Chotto… Oneechan mitai." Then she'd rushed out of the bedroom, dashing across the bar and quickly up the steps, and not long after came the sound of a closing door. The cryptic words she's spoken though, distracted Kadaj from realizing she'd beat him to the bathroom.

"Oneechan…"

But the giant man on the other side sounded as though he was waking. Kadaj slipped out of the bedroom fast, not wanting to be caught at something that appeared to have ill intentions, gliding quickly back toward the TURKs before Barret was fully aware of anything.

Up stairs the sound of running water caught the oil driller's attention and Kadaj pointed, "Your… daughter? Just went up there." He received a scowl for his comment, Barret obviously not pleased he hadn't been up before the silver haired boy, and obviously not pleased with the half-challenge to his and Marlene's relation. Not that he felt he owed the kid any explanation.

Kadaj just shrugged off the dirty glare, then caught sight of the strange, other-worldly gunslinger, standing in the now open front door. He didn't even beckon for Kadaj to come, simply fixed the boy with his eerie garnet gaze and walked back out onto the Seventh Heaven's porch. With out bothering to wake either his niisan or the TURKs, Kadaj followed, closing the front door behind himself, ignoring Barret's suspicious looks. The crimson caped man was already down the steps and into the street by the time Kadaj caught up with him, wondering what in hell the strange man could want, and more than a little curious in his own right.

The glow in his eyes spoke involvement with Shin-Ra, as did his impressive stealth and combat skills. Kadaj was still just a little sore that the man had been able to wrest away both Tseng and the woman, Elena, while the brothers had interrogated them… In the long shadows of the early morning, both men melted like phantoms from the public's sight.

They didn't stop until they'd reached the edge of Edge, far enough that no one would disturb them, and it would take anyone searching a good amount of time to find them here. Kadaj actually found it difficult to keep up with the other man sometimes, his footfalls were so silent, despite his strange, long toed shoes, and he seemed to fly between the allies sometimes, he was so fast and fleet.

At last Kadaj caught up with him, inside one of the half constructed buildings, much like the one in which Kadaj had spoken with President Rufus Shin-Ra, not too long ago. Save this building was far less central, and definitely not crawling with TURKs. Small blessings.

The gunman was already perched upon the edge, looking out over the vast barren terrain that spread out beyond the city, when Kadaj took his seat beside him, letting his feet hang.

"Who are you, anyway…?" He spoke up first, not caring that it had been on the other's silent invitation that they had come all the way out here. The man didn't seem to mind the preemptive question though, answering in that midnight voice that Kadaj couldn't decide whether belonged in a dream or a nightmare.

"Valentine. Vincent Valentine. Former Shin-Ra special agent, TURKs department. Filed as missing and presumed dead on assignment in Nibleheim, thirty-one years ago."

Kadaj regarded the other man with skepticism. "Thirty-one years? You don't look older than twenty-five, how do you go missing on a TURK assignment thirty-one years ago?" Though TURK training would explain his combat proficiency, as long as he took it more seriously than those clowns back at the bar…

"Twenty-seven, actually," he didn't sound flattered by the boy's lower estimation. "But then thanks to Hojo and his experiments, the passage of years hasn't meant much to me…" Kadaj glared out at the horizon on the mention of Hojo's name. Vincent took quiet note of this before he began his own line of questioning. "Cloud explained to some of us your origins with Shin-Ra. Though I was not surprised, given your abilities and your equipment. Apparently the President said you were created by Hojo as insurance…"

"And as proof of the Jenova experiment…" Kadaj volunteered briefly. "You said something happened to you in Nibleheim. Was that the… The Nibleheim Incident?" He asked carefully, though the moment he said it he knew it was wrong. He and his brothers weren't around for Shin-Ra to limit, if it had been that long ago.

But Vincent replied, "One of many. I was there as a guard to the initial stages of the Jenova Project. Eventually I came to disagree with Hojo and his lack of ethics, when it started costing lives… Eventually it cost me my own, so to speak," Apparently getting too close to something rather personal, Vincent switched to speaking more broadly. "Nibleheim's history is closely bound with Shin-Ra, Hojo and the Jenova Project. Cursed by it. Haunted by memories, and inhabited by lies. No good or truth has ever come from that place… Save Lockhart and Strife."

But Kadaj was definitely interested now. The raven-haired man knew about Hojo and his experiments. He might have answers, if Kadaj could get at them. For the moment he just concerned himself with the last thing Vincent said, "Niisan was born there…"

When the youth said this, Vincent looked at him through side long eyes. After a pause the former TURK asked, "What did Hojo tell you of who you are? Did he ever explain to you the circumstances of your birth?"

The boy kicked his feet, fidgeting, thinking for a moment before he replied, "I never really understood anything that mad man said. He never explained anything clearly to me… When I was very young, he told me nothing. I learned from tutors, academics as well as combat. The history of the Planet, mathematics, science. Hojo just ran tests on me, but sometimes he'd say strange things… touch my hair and call me his beautiful child…

"As I got older, I started studying psychology to understand my opponents better when I was fighting and the like. The books talked about things like families, lovers, and so I started asking questions about where I came from, if he was my father and who my mother was. He was evasive for the longest time, abusive even, to get me to shut up.

"But, eventually he began to hint at things to me… That I was part of a great and special family, He said I had a brother. An older brother. A great man, who had accomplished many things. He said we were the heirs to the secrets of the Cetra, of our Mother, Jenova, and that we would revolutionize the world some day, our family… He never let me meet Sephiroth… I was still a child when he was at the height of his career, much too young to enter SOLDIER even by the time the Wutai War was over. Though, I don't think Hojo had any intention to put us there anyway.

"That's right, us…" Kadaj smiled sadly, his tone one of mock exasperation with himself for forgetting to mention something. "It was years before I even knew about Loz and Yazoo. We were tutored separately, trained separately, tested separately for the longest time. I never understood, really, why he kept the three of us apart all that time…"

"To run a clean experiment…," Vincent answered with out hesitation. "Sephiroth was the subject being tested in the field, exposed to other people, subject to real combat. The three of you would have been created as controls. First to prove the experiment could be repeated with the same effect. Scientific theory doesn't approach scientific law until results are duplicated. Once this requirement was met satisfactorily, he'd be able to monitor you in a more controlled environment than he could Sephiroth, and gauge your development, one against the others.

"I knew of his intentions to repeat the experiment when it first succeeded. My attempts to persuade him otherwise turned violent, and I found myself the subject of one of his personal side projects," the fingers of his metal arm clicked against one another suggestively and Kadaj found himself drawn to look at it, his understanding of his own life expanding vastly in that one brief explanation. "I assumed, however, that you would be among those drawn north during the first Reunion. I'd no idea Shin-Ra kept you locked away."

"No… and they'd have done better to have let us go to our Mother in the first place!" Kadaj had raised his voice, but wasn't projecting it toward Vincent. He was glaring down the building face at a red-haired figure staring up at them, gesturing that they come down quite emphatically. Looking to Vincent he asked, almost hopefully, "Surely the TURKs were much different in your day?"

The stoic man in red didn't deign to answer. Having apparently learned and said what he'd needed in this conversation, he simply stood and walked back into the shadows, leaving Kadaj on his own.

Finally deciding it would be more trouble than it was worth to make Reno come up here, Kadaj stood and signaled he was coming down.

**Remarks: **Ah, the fun of trying to write a conversation between two very private characters! But I think now people can understand why Vincent knows more about what's going on than it seems one guy should. He's got _at least_ three decades earlier knowledge of the Jenova project than anyone currently involved, worked personally along side Gast, Hojo and Lucrecia, so he's got a pretty good idea of what's happening now.

Then as a former TURK he's kinda got an in with the current generation. After all, Tseng and Elena actually talked to him about the brothers, rather than keeping their lips buttoned like you'd think good Shin-Ra employees usually would, and on top of that he'd been watching the brothers on his own. This guy's a master at gathering intelligence!

And man, I just love emphasizing how naïve about the world outside the Shin-Ra labs the brothers really are. You really gotta feel sorry for people who'd grow up in that kind of situation. Definitely strong evidence that nurture's a big element in how unstable they are. Not that Jenova cells don't make nature any less, but…

Oh, and if you think you're starting to see where my theories are headed, don't put it in reviews, okay! I don't want conjecture to make for spoilers. :3 Though, apparently a lot of you are still really lost. I _promise_ there are explanations for all this weird shit. I just like makin' you wait for them! : D

**Translations:**

Ohayou – "Morning!"

Yasashii egao – A gentle smile.

"Chotto … Oneechan mitai." – "You look a little… like Oneechan."

Oneechan – Affectionate yet still respectful form of Oneesan, older sister. No, she's not referring to Tifa

Damn, I'm givin' you people free Japanese lessons, that doesn't seem right…

**Edit:** Despite a recent review that states the contrary, my Japanese in this chapter is just fine. "Mitai" can either act as the form of "Miru" (to see) that expresses desire, or it can operate as the suffix/adjective conveying the basic meaning "to resemble/ look like/ seem like" etc. This is my college major people, my life. Unless you **really** **know** you can top **11+ years** of Japanese language education…


	11. From the Deep

The warm spray of the shower ran black beneath Yazoo's feet. It washed away with it all the dirt and soot of several days of endless fighting, and the crust of grayish plasma that had tangled itself in the fine hairs at the nape of his neck. The singed tips broke from the silvery strands of his hair, sloughing away the last evidence of battle, and the heat in the constant pounding of the droplets eased the lingering tension and pain.

Loz was still waiting his turn for the shower back in the bedroom, which left Yazoo alone with his diseased body and shattered thoughts uncoiling inside his head. In this now rare solitude the strong, confident middle child permitted himself a slow breakdown at last. The first few tears slid out unbidden, but knowing he was unobserved he gave in to the sweeping tide of helplessness, breaking in to quiet sobs and gradually lowering himself into an infantile crouch.

He wrapped his arms about his knees and tucked his forehead against them, letting the water beat gently against his shoulders. to flow down the curve of his supple back. He wished it could just as easily wash all this hurt and confusion away, as it did the mundane grime and ash. But the corruption went deeper than the surface of his skin, deeper than the pores shallow burrow. There was nothing simple water could do for internal charring the Planet seared into his ivory flesh.

Only Mother could make this better, and they'd come so close to meeting her. Kadaj had had her in his grasp, but if the Shin-Ra had him now then they'd most certainly taken her away. The utter unfairness of it cut at him, they'd been through all of this, only to start all over again.

There was just no help for that though, was there? There was no other option, but to go and try to find them. But even though he knew they still had to go meet Mother and find Kadaj, part of Yazoo's pain was this: strangely, he found himself not wanting to leave…

Waking up this morning in that soft, warm bed, surrounded by simple human comforts, the scent of warm, sweet breakfast being cooked in the kitchen down stairs… Elmyra's gentle smile as she'd laid a bundle of worn old clothes on the dresser for Loz and Yazoo to try. The cozy closeness of this little yellow bathroom, so different from the sterile white communal showers, so wide and the cold, white tile…

All of it was unfamiliar, but it struck a cord in Yazoo somewhere, was tantalizing to a part of himself he didn't understand and that troubled him too… He was fairly well certain that Mother was nothing like Elmyra. Mother was a traveler of the stars, a divine fire that purged the Universe of weak and parasitic creatures… Elmyra didn't strike Yazoo as parasitic at all though… Quite the opposite, she was unfathomably giving, vastly different from anyone working for the Shin-Ra. He found himself mourning already, the thought that she would perish with this world… As though it would blind fold his mind, Yazoo shielded his eyes with one slim hand.

"Yazoo? …Daijoubu?" The question came with a soft rap on the door. Trying to pull himself together quickly, the younger brother cleared his throat and stood up carefully, quickly shutting the water off.

"Yeah, Loz. I'm fine…" He pushed his long hair out of his face, reaching out for his towel as Loz let himself in. "I didn't mean to take so long…"

The older one just shook his head, setting his own towel in place of Yazoo's. "I just thought…" He didn't finish the sentence though, the sentiment clear enough. After Yazoo's collapse last night, the concern was well founded. Taking in the extent of the Geostigma's spread while his brother toweled off, Loz's brows knit in further worry. "Why is it worse for you…?" He knew his brother didn't really know any more about the disease than he did, but he just felt so helpless right now.

Yazoo shrugged, letting one thin shoulder rise and drop. "You're stronger than I am. You fight it better," but this only served to cause guilty tears to spring to Loz's eyes. The young man had been tearing up regularly, off and on through out the evening and now today. The frustration of all the setbacks was really getting to him, but Yazoo bore it with patience. Trying to be strict with his brother at this point would only make things worse.

Reaching out he cupped Loz's cheek, brushing gently at the corner of one eye with the pad of his thumb. "… Don't worry. We're not going to end up like those others. We were born from Mother. She's a real part of us. That's why the Planet attacks us so fiercely. But that's also why we can resist it. It hurts, I know. But Mother won't abandon us. She needs us to rescue her and we're going to do that, today. We're going to leave here and find Kadaj, get to Mother and then she'll make everything right. This world will have no power to hurt us any more."

It helped, being strong for Loz. It gave Loz his confidence and it solidified again in Yazoo's mind their being and their purpose. He would thank Elmyra for her help, sincerely appreciate her kindness, but they were not, after all, part of this world. The primitive trappings of human life might provide a dangerous distraction, but they would have to be stronger than that.

"Go on, get cleaned up. You still smell like sulfur. I'll be waiting for you down stairs. Elmyra will have finished making breakfast, but we should go as soon as possible. We'll need to be able to catch up, if they've decided to move Mother and Kadaj."

Loz nodded and began stripping out of his underclothes obediently, Yazoo letting his hand drop and leaving the bathroom to go back to the bedroom and dress. The widow had been kind enough to drag out some of her husband's old clothing, stored for years now in the attic inside a cedar chest. They were only a little musty, just smelled mostly of the fragrant wood which had been sealed tightly, no insects creeping in.

Yazoo finally decided on a deep crimson sweater, a hand-knit affair with a fold over turtle neck that conveniently hid his scars. It was a little too large, the sleeves hanging over the backs of his hands, and he had to belt the slate grey jeans, which had probably once been black, but all the clothing felt soft and durable. No real replacement for custom-fit leather armor, but under the circumstances, it would have to do.

Everything was just Loz's size though. The scoop-neck grey sweater and khaki work pants fit to a T, and both of them still had their boots, for the most part. There was a slash in the upper calf of one of Loz's but nothing terrible, and the slacks fell right over it.

While Loz was still showering though, Yazoo took the moment to read in the daughter's diary again. Most of it just gushed about her boyfriend, but occasionally the girl wandered down more serious and interesting veins.

"Tseng came to our house again. I don't know why he doesn't simply take me away. I know they kidnap people, the TURKs, but when I look at Tseng I have a hard time believing it. He seems so very dignified. Wutains always seem so very honorable. Well, except the waiters in the Wall Market restaurants, but some how I think Tseng's different from them… I just don't see how he can be a TURK. I'm not sure he's even told Shin-Ra that he's found me. If that Professor Hojo knew where I was, I don't think there'd be any escape…

"Mom's really scared for me, and I wish I could tell her it was okay… She's worried that the General will turn me in, since I spend so much time with Zack and him, but I don't think he'd ever do that. I guess because he was the first SOLDIER he's seen a lot of Hojo and his labs. He sounds pretty disgusted with it all, from what little he's said, so I don't think I'll have to worry. On top of that, he and Zack are still such great friends. He wouldn't do anything to hurt Zack, just because Shin-Ra's interested in me.

"They actually share an apartment, up on top of the Plate! I came up and made dinner for them last night, which I think they both really appreciated. Men. They really are just like big kids. The place is really spacious, but there's barely anything in it and most of the time it looks like it's a complete mess. They really need a woman to set things right in there! …Having said that, I know Zack would really like it if I'd move in with him… But I couldn't leave Mom down here by herself. Anyway, I think Sephiroth would be too uncomfortable around me…

"He's not a bad guy, really. But he's very quiet, and so very full of pain. More pain than anyone I've ever seen. Sometimes I meet his eyes and I can almost hear his voice inside my head saying, 'Do not come too close to me. I see your light, and my darkness can extinguish it.' It's really almost that clear.

"Of course I don't believe that. It's not that I think I'm all that strong, but I don't think he's quite that lost. I bet that sounds arrogant, I don't really know his pain, but… Well, I'd like to try to help. I just wish he'd open up and let me. Maybe if we get to know each other better, he'll start to trust me like he trusts Zack, but it will have to be gradual. I think I'd scare him off if I suddenly moved in!

"Anyway, I guess the president of Shin-Ra visits sometimes, or Heidegger, or Hojo… Zack says Sephiroth **hates** it when any of them come around, especially Hojo. Zack's always told to leave when the professor visits, and I guess sometimes after that Sephiroth will be sick for _days_. I really feel bad for him. It makes me wonder, why he doesn't just quit? …But I guess that's probably not possible, since he was the first… I know Zack's contract is ridiculously strict, but he says it isn't iron clad. I hope so…

"I can't think about this any more or I'm really going to cry. I think I'll go work in the garden. Maybe I'll bring the guys some flowers next time."

Loz finally came in to change, and Yazoo closed the book. Glancing to the door once to make sure it was closed, he rolled over on his stomach and slipped the small book into the back pocket of the jeans. The sweater came down far enough it covered what small amount of the soft pink binding peaked up over the fabric, but any way around it, Yazoo had decided to take the diary with them.

At best it was a view into the life of their eldest brother that no one else knew of, and if nothing else it was small enough not to be a burden to carry it. The pages were only worn a little bit, suggesting to Yazoo no one but the author had really ever read it; it was entirely possible Elmyra didn't even know of it. Or if she did, she hadn't had the heart to look in it. It would probably be months before she missed the little book, if she ever did.

Loz pulled the grey sweater over his head, the muscles of his back bunching and stretching with languid strength, then turned to his brother and nodded, ready to head down stairs. By now the scent of sweet and salty breakfast foods was thick in the little cottage's air, and when the arrived down stairs it was to the sight of a table full of plates and crock ware, piled with scrambled eggs, ham and bacon, crisp toast and sweet griddle cakes. The pleasure Elmyra took in cooking for more than just herself was palpable, her smile bright as the sun yellow flowers decorating the center of the table.

"Come, come, sit down. We don't want it to all get cold." She'd already set out the place settings and ushered each of the young men to a chair. This was definitely different than the prepared plates that were brought to their rooms, or the rations they'd been living off at the Forgotten City. For a moment, both were quite at a loss until Elmyra cheerily picked up and fixed their plates.

For a moment all Yazoo could do was eye his plate, but the delicious smell was quickly reminding him that he hadn't really eaten properly in days, and though his endurance was remarkable, his ability to forgo most bodily needs far beyond normal human capacity, there was no denying his appetite now. Picking up the fork beside his plate he scooped up some of the fluffy scrambled eggs and immediately wolfed them down. Loz was already making quick work of a stack of griddle cakes.

Elmyra just watched the two of them happily for a moment before finally picking at her own plate. She'd suspected they'd be ravenous when they woke and had made sure to prepare extra helpings. They were boys after all, and though she'd had none of her own really, Zack had come around her home enough to impress upon her the appetite of a still growing young man.

"So… You boys will be heading out today?" She finally brought herself to ask, though already a little reluctant to see them go. She barely knew them, but she could tell there was something in them that needed mothering. She just had to remind herself, they had a mother they were going to. She just hadn't had enough time with her little girl. Forever wouldn't have been enough, and even though Aerith had been a grown woman when she'd finally flown from the nest, it still hurt Elmyra that her home was so empty. She'd thought trying to take care of some one else would be too painful, but now she found it only hurt because they were going to go…

"Ah…" Yazoo nodded after a moment. "Soon. We appreciate your kindness, but…"

"But you're still going to meet your mother."

"Yes… There's another of us too, a younger brother. The Shin-Ra have him now…" He didn't know precisely what compelled him to elaborate. Maybe that she sympathized with their low opinion of the Shin-Ra, which was emphasized again by her immediate frown. "We're fairly sure they've taken him to the Healin Lodge."

"Mm… You boys didn't really have any gil on you, did you? You'll need something to get transport from the city," she pushed up from her seat and went to the side of one of the living room's sitting chairs, bringing a small velvet purse back with her. Taking out an old wallet she drew out a few bills and pressed them on Yazoo. "Shin-Ra stopped digging its heels in about my husband's life insurance after what happened to my daughter, so I don't mind helping you boys out. You should be able to hire a cab and have a little extra if you need anything."

The look of surprise on both men's faces let her know they hadn't been fishing for a hand-out, though she hadn't expected they were anyway. There was something of a naïve honesty about them, though they guarded the details of the truths they told carefully.

When they finally stood on her front stoop, ready at last to go, Elmyra felt again that longing for them to stay. Fighting through the tightness in her chest she could finally request, "If you boys ever come back this direction… Well, you'd make an old widow happy if you'd drop in some time and look in on me."

The two brothers exchanged a momentary look, the bigger man looking for direction from the other. After a moment Yazoo gave her an affirming nod, but there came that smile again, hidden knowledge masked behind a gentle face. Whether because of their illness or something else Elmyra didn't know, it was obvious the young man didn't think they'd ever come back her way.

**VIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVII**

The truck let them off a few hundred yards from the Healin Lodge and Yazoo selected a hill both knew would give them a good line of sight. At this distance they were unlikely to be spotted to very quickly by Shin-Ra's people, but they'd be able to observe and know when it was to their best advantage to move in.

Loz took his seat on one of the stepped rocks, watching his brother go to work. Since their mundane weapons had been lost to them, they were now forced to resort to magical means of carrying out their objectives. Luckily their niisan had more than adequately equipped them, the treasure trove of Materia Loz had discovered in the Sector 5 church coming to be quite convenient.

With a graceful sweep of his arm Yazoo unleashed the burst of energy down to the pools below. At first there was nothing but a quiet calm, before the rivers and waterfalls that cut through the lush terrain began to rise and overflow as the creature rose from the deep.

Inside the Healin Lodge the walls shook with the strange, hissing, ultrasonic scream. Doctors and nurses paused in their duties, patients woke from fitful sleep and looked to medical staff in expectant apprehension. There were very few windows through which to locate the source, but for those who could see the great sea snake turning its massive head in their direction, terror knew no bounds.

**Author's Remarks:** Levithan's gotta be my favorite summon. Not the strongest, but there's just something about it. Uh… That's all I got.

**Translations:**

Wow, none I think. :3


	12. The Trouble with World Powers

"THEY SEIZED THE DRILLING RIGHTS!" Cloud had to hold the little flip phone several inches away from his ear not to lose his hearing to Barret's livid shouting. He'd only just called to let Barret know his cell phone was replaced and before he'd even managed a greeting, the former AVALANCHE ring-leader was venting his frustrations at him. Well, the number was still the same, so he imagined Barret knew who was calling before he'd picked it up.

Still doing his best to put a bit of distance between himself and the speaker, Cloud asked for clarification, "Who's done what was that, Wallace?"

"Shin-Ra!" Thankfully he'd switched to growling now, instead of unbridled shouting. "The company we bought the rights from was one of their subsidiaries. I guess they tried to break off after Meteor, but Shin-Ra's reelin' everything back in. Their enforcing their old contracts with these people, sayin' they had no right to sell us anything! Those fuckin' crooks!" Obviously Marlene was no where near by. "They still think they own the goddamn Planet, even after all this shit!

"It's cuz they still got those goddamn TURKs on their fuckin' payroll. Soulless lawyers and professional extortionists all in one neat package. I know that Tseng's been out here trying to buy out my staff! Not that anyone from North Corel would ever take a Shin-Ra paycheck after what happened before. Hey! You see that Reno again, you give him one in the teeth for me, eh?"

Cloud smirked slightly, glancing ahead to the fiery-haired man in question. Barret might be in the middle of a legal fist-fight with Shin-Ra, but at the moment the last thing Cloud needed was for it to all come to physical blows. Trying to blend in as normal civilians in the better part of Edge was difficult enough as it stood, without punches being thrown. "How's Marlene and Denzel?"

"Oh, good, good. Hyper little kids. They're learning how to ride chocobos since we use them pretty often as pack animals out here. Denzel's still lookin' real healthy."

"That's good. Give them my regards." Cloud hung up and closed the phone, slipping it into a holster on his belt. He felt a bit pretentious, carrying a cell phone like a weapon, but he didn't want to take chances with it flying out of his pocket again.

Beside him, Kadaj tracked the path of the little black phone thoughtfully. Looking up toward Reno himself he spoke up, "Where _is_ my phone, TURK?" Not that he expected anyone to need to call him now… Perhaps Rufus Shin-Ra, but he could always get to Kadaj via one of the TURKs. But now that his niisan had a phone again… Well, if they were ever separated, it would be more convenient.

Reno looked over his shoulder, his expression souring a little further at the still leather-clad boy. "Busted. Leave it to you to wreck a supposedly indestructible prototype. …And it was _Tseng_'s phone, you little thief," he added angrily. "If you want one of your own… Well, I'll talk to the president about it."

Kadaj rolled his eyes, used to Reno's infantile name-calling by now. He'd had to endure the childish temper all the way back to the bar, on foot, earlier this morning and was beginning to learn to tune the red-head out. He wasn't sure exactly what was irritating the TURK most: his unsupervised stroll through Edge with Valentine, or the apparent orders from President Shin-Ra that made Reno his personal style consultant for the day… Either way he was getting tired of it putting up with it, especially now that Reno was starting to act parental.

Kadaj had liked Tseng's phone though. It had all the private numbers he ever would have needed and was now certain never to be given. Especially to a certain phone, which he'd just like to try, just once, just to see… Damn the convenience of speed-dial. He should have committed it to memory.

"Here," Reno stopped and pointed to a building rising several stories above ground. Though the walls were just dull grey, the windows were set with mirrored glass that shone bright royal blue, and the front display mannequins, in their dark and decorative clothing, certainly looked interesting. "Seven floors of different shops. There's gotta be something in here you'll like."

"… Zeitaku yo ne …" Kadaj moved through the aisles of the mall's various stores, picking curiously at the articles of clothing. "So this is what it is, not to have a uniform…"

"Ah. We'd have brought yours except you lit your room on fire…" Reno sucked impatiently on the end of a cigarette, much to the chagrin of the sales people. None of them spoke up about the falling ash though, not one of them interested in further annoying the irritated TURK. Getting fed up with watching the kid inspect the lace detailing on a girls' blouse, he grabbed a couple things off the racks himself and pushed them at the boy. "Go. Take these to the dressing room and see if they fit. This is not a field-trip for modern Midgar anthropology, then." Reno snapped a couple impatient times and a girl in ripped fishnets and a pleated tartan miniskirt scurried over to help them.

While the boy begrudgingly complied with Reno's instructions, Cloud occupied himself with a similar inspection of the unique and extravagantly priced apparel. Even the t-shirts weren't simple, with deconstructed seams and intricate screen printing of delicate flowers, grizzly skulls, and obscure Wutain script. There were rings and studs on just about everything, and every piece of clothing was cut to cling close or drape gracefully, just so. He looked over to Reno curiously, raising one pale brow.

"Yeah, I know… It's wrong, huh? That I actually want him to look good?" He crossed one arm across his stomach, resting the other elbow on his wrist and looked away, taking a drag off his cigarette. The ex-mercenary watched the other for another long moment, trying to fathom what strange sort of creature one must be to get promoted into the TURKs… But then Kadaj was stepping out of the dressing room, and after that, Cloud really couldn't have cared.

The top was relatively simple. Black, sleeveless ribbed turtleneck with the deconstructed edges common to much of the clothing in the store. It was stitched in white thread and actually had a couple holes already torn just above the hem, which rode beautifully high on Kadaj's smooth abdomen. With the way the storm-cloud grey cargo pants hung, low on the boy's slim hips, it offered a tantalizing view of startlingly pale flesh all around. After that the pants simply skated over Kadaj's perfect body, flaring wider until they hit the floor, just managing to obscure his still booted feet. Here and there the fabric faded paler, just a bit, and the buttons of the ample pockets flashed silver, detailed scroll-work cast into the little metal disks.

Cloud could easily imagine the various silver and leather trinkets Reno would undoubtedly recommend. The red-head was already pulling a grommeted belt from a near by rack, with no apparent intentions for it actually hold up the cargo pants. "Hai," he didn't even give it to Kadaj, just threw it around his waist and fastened it himself so that it hung fashionably about the youth's angular hips. Kadaj regarded him with slightly guarded confusion, until the TURK followed the belt with his arm, suddenly drawing up close so their bodies lined up side to side. "How the hell is it you can kick my ass? _Hosoi!_ I should be able to just snap you in two."

It was as though an electric current shot straight up his spine from the small of his back; Cloud could watch the swift progression as Kadaj tensed. "SAWARUNA!" The silver-haired youth had acted even before he spoke, breaking the hold and crossing half the shop in the blink of an eye. He stood, eyes trained on Reno, hackles raised and looking murderous. The TURK had already taken a defensive stance, left hand going for his nightstick, right arm thrown up in front of his face, but the fight seemed to fizzle in the air…

The look in Kadaj's eyes slowly shifted from immediate violence to a more meditative glare, promising prolonged cruelty, whenever he was able to finally carry it out.

For a moment, Cloud was completely lost, until Reno let go of the nightstick and pushed his shirt sleeve down. The Shin-Ra issue armlet shimmered softly with a studding of Materia and one was glowing particularly bright, fading out as its spell had already been cast and taken effect.

"You don't seriously think we're that stupid, do you? Oh, no, the President made _sure_ both Rude and I were equipped to deal with your special little talents, after what you pulled with Bahaumut and that stunt back at Healin."

"Seal Materia."

"Close. Master Magic. Only the best, for Shin-Ra elite. But a quick Silence spell and Junior here is as harmless as a kitten," Reno conveniently neglected to mention that Kadaj had laid both him _and_ Rude flat with out the use of Materia, or his sword, at Healin Lodge a couple days ago. Getting hold of Reno's electro-mag nightstick _had_ worked to his advantage though, and the element of complete surprise hadn't hurt. Who'd have thought the kid would have walked back into that place of his own volition? Even if he was kicking down the door…

Kadaj glowered, fists clenched so tightly the whole length of his arms shook. As though the spell had actually been able to steal his voice he seethed in silence, and Reno's smug grin slowly melted into a vicious sneer. Crossing the empty space between them in three long strides he came within bare centimeters of Kadaj, glaring coldly down into the boy's jade eyes.

"Look, you little punk," he leaned his head in closer, nose coming parallel with Kadaj's. "I think you need to not be so goddamn sensitive about people getting in your space, y'know? There's not really much reason for me to be all buddy-buddy and go this easy on you, so you should be damned grateful. It could be Tseng standing here right now. And after what went down at the North Crater, if he was, you wouldn't be.

"See, us TURKs don't care too much for people fucking with one of our own, and messing with Elena was a big, _big_ mistake. Shachou knows that, which is why you're stuck with me. I put it out of mind, because I'm on the clock. Don't give me any reasons to decide to take a break. Tseng would likely just straight out kill you… Make me think too hard about how _much_ I hate my job right now," his fingertips traced their way just a little too softly along Kadaj's jaw.

"Reno," Cloud finally stepped between them, the TURK pushing the line. Reno's glare fixed on him suddenly, green fire snapping in his emerald eyes. But the TURK still had a job to do, and he hadn't forgotten that. Letting go of the momentary lapse in his professional cool, his lashes dropped and a smirk caught the corner of his mouth, and he finally stepped back from Kadaj.

Picking up a jacket from the rack beside them, he held it up against the boy's softly heaving chest. "Mm. You'd look good in this one too."

Cloud threw his arm up before Kadaj could make good on the return of his murderous glare. He was becoming quickly convinced that Reno's presence was only going to serve as provocation for the younger man, rather than being of any use as a guard. The TURK only took it as an excuse to whip out a shit-eating-grin and sauntered away smugly.

Kadaj let out a strained breath and a low growl, watching the red-head's retreating backside. Turning his gaze on Cloud he shook his head and went back for the dressing room to retrieve his armor. "Let him get whatever he wants, I'll be waiting in the car."

While he was thus occupied, Cloud took the opportunity to approach the TURK. "Vincent said they'd taken Elena and Tseng…"

For a moment, it didn't seem as though the other was interested in elaborating, busying himself comparing a couple hooded sweatshirts. At last, once he'd decided neither suited, he spoke up. "A job like ours is tough for women. Not because they aren't qualified. Elena was a flake when she was first promoted, but now, she's first rate. I don't even mind admitting, she takes this shit more seriously than me. Nearly right on level with Tseng.

"But men can be despicable creatures. When the brothers captured those two out there at the North Crater, they focused on Elena to try and break Tseng. Of course one of the TURKs' most important guidelines is you gotta be able to take it, if you're gonna dish it out. Because the people you hurt might someday strike back at you. Looking at either of those two now, you wouldn't know anyone had ever fucked with them. But that doesn't make those dogs any less the sons of a bitches that they are for even trying it."

"You reap what you sow," Cloud echoed Vincent's words in the forest. "Shin-Ra created them, raised and trained them. After Sephiroth, whatever made you think you could ever have contained them?"

"You think we should have just exterminated them, after Nibleheim, then…? Maybe we should-"

"I think you should take the proper responsibility for them. Rather than constantly pushing his nerves and tearing him down, you should try to stem the violence in him. I can understand your anger. He hurt several of the people I'm close to, too, but Kadaj sees that as revenge for the hurt we already caused him."

Reno turned and regarded Cloud in a moment of simultaneous consideration, and irritation. The would-be SOLDIER had a lot of balls to be confronting the TURK on this matter, in this way, but the red-head couldn't entirely say that he didn't see Cloud's point. "We, huh? What did you ever do to him?"

"Heh… Oretachi ha nakama darou? …Between Shin-Ra and AVALANCHE, we both had a hand in the defeat of Sephiroth and Jenova. We stood against the only family Kadaj believes he had. I struck the final blows. Of course I've wounded him."

Pursing his mouth and sighing in reluctant defeat, Reno shrugged his shoulders and went back to the clothing racks. President Rufus would hand him his ass if he fucked with the kid too much anyway. Best to just let it go, until such time as Shin-Ra tired with dragging out this Jenova Project bullshit. Eventually, it'd be open season once again.

Cloud left Reno to his mild sulking, following the now dressed Kadaj out the shop's wrought iron doors. The staff seemed infinitely relieved to see at least two of the confrontational customers go, though they still had the TURK to contend with.

When they reached the street Kadaj stopped, leaning against the building side, watching the traffic of people and cars passing back and forth before him. Cloud took up a place close beside, also watching the street a moment, before turning to look at his strange new companion. "You shouldn't let Reno get to you. He just likes trouble and attention."

Kadaj didn't look away from the street as he nodded, folding his arms across his chest. "I just… Don't want him touching me. I hate being touched. … The only person I've ever been able to stand putting their hands on me is you. When you caught me, when I thought I was dieing… Then you told me to hold on. And I didn't want to let go. It was the first time I didn't feel like I had to get away." He offered Cloud an apologetic smile, for what had happened in the shop, and his niisan returned it, understandingly. After a moment, Cloud reached out and laid a hand on Kadaj's shoulder, earning a wider smile from the boy, perhaps even a slight blush.

Then Reno was coming through the doors with the sales girl in tow, carrying all the shop bags for him.

**Author's Remarks:** More fun with Kadaj and Reno. I love pitting those two against each other, it's far too amusing to me. Evil grin Also a bit of a bonding moment between Kadaj and Cloud for those of you who've been asking for it. Ooooh, will I ever actually get around to some real CxK action? You'll just have to keep reading and see.

**Translations:**

"Zeitaku yo ne" – "Extravagant /decadent, huh?" Kadaj is mildly disgusted with humanity's obsession with unnecessary luxuries.

Hosoi - Thin

Sawaruna! – "Don't touch me!" Though with how pissed he is, it's probably more "Don't fuckin' touch me!"

"Oretachi ha nakama darou?" – "We're associates/comrades aren't we?" Reno asks this of Cloud through the door of the Healin Lodge when Cloud asks why the silver haired brothers attacked them.


	13. Hell Hath No Fury

Yazoo strolled through the trashed halls of the Healin medical facility at his leisure, stepping over fallen equipment and ceiling tiles delicately as he searched for either his brother or for Mother. The sound of the great sea serpent, Levithan, slithering through more distant corridors could be heard in the earthly rumble that rippled the vast puddles spreading over the linoleum tile floors. The silver haired gunman moved with a catlike grace through the corridors, and a similar distaste for the water, which was soaking unpleasantly into the cuffs of his jeans.

Here and there along the way lay the bodies of staff and patients who'd found themselves in the path of the gigantic snake, pitifully crushed and mangled, occasionally rent in half. The coppery tang of blood wafted and waned, blending with the antiseptic smells of the hospital into a gruesome and familiar perfume that reminded Yazoo sharply of the miserable years he'd spent trapped here. The vision of the halls and laboratories in ruins was indescribably gratifying to him.

Loz had made his way immediately for the lower portions where they had once been held, in hopes of finding Kadaj, and at least casing the place for new armor, and perhaps even weapons if they could be found. Yazoo sincerely doubted they'd be so lucky as to come across such finely constructed firearms as the twin Velvet Nightmares, or as entertaining as Loz's Dual Hound. But at the moment, whatever they could come across would simply have to serve.

Inside rooms too small for Levithan to have wriggled into, patients and doctors still huddled in fear, none of them daring to venture out. The sight of Yazoo passing with immunity served only to confuse and instill further terror, especially in those who had seen the havoc wreaked by the younger silver haired brother just the day before.

Only Shin-Ra security dared move about in search of the creature's summoner, most of them little to no match for either monster or man. He'd dispatched several MPs already as they'd attempted to hinder him, getting a feel for the different levels of spells available for his use, scorching portions of hallway with fire and lightning, creating vast frozen slicks from the watery floors with blasts of sub arctic ice.

Walking through a burn field he'd just created, not too far off from the radiology labs, the middle child slowed and stopped, smirking softly as he realized who the ten-man garrison had been set up to cover for. The smoke cleared gradually to reveal the petite blonde assassin, firearm trained directly on him, looking impeccable in a brand new tailored and pressed blue suit. Her chocolate eyes, though warm in hue, were cold and hard as the rocks of the North Crater where they'd first faced off. Where Yazoo had shot her down.

The medical care of Shin-Ra bordered on the miraculous though, to those important enough to receive its full services. He was not surprised in the least to see her standing, even after all he and his brothers had subjected her to.

They stood in complete silence, regarding one another, challenging with their gazes, rather than bothering with superfluous words. It had been a long time now since Elena had been that chatter box novice trying to taunt her opponents to intimidate them, and Yazoo had never been a man of very many words. The red-head would have tried to tear the boy a new one for the loss of his guns and his aged civilian clothes, and Yazoo took it almost as a mercy that this girl would not be nearly so infantile and talkative.

They moved on some unspoken cue, Elena pulling the trigger on her gun, Yazoo dodging only a hair-split second sooner than the round got off. The bullet grazed through the wing of his silvery hair, severing several translucent strands which floated, shining, to the floor. The lightning that he threw chased Elena's rapid steps as she shot forward to engage him, scorching walls and tile but failing to find their mark.

Elena's next attack hit home. At first Yazoo wasn't exactly certain what had happened. Something struck him, though he couldn't see it, and it caused no physical impact that pushed him in any given direction. Then in a flash of horrific realization Yazoo knew that he was now completely unarmed. Some how the TURK had cut off his ability to use the Materia that were now a part of him, and the momentary shock gave her the opening she needed to land a shot with her gun.

The shell impacted with shattering force into Yazoo's left shoulder, only missing something vital thanks to the gunman's own dampened reflexes. Even taken by surprise, he could move at least fast enough to save his life, grunting loudly through gritted teeth as his whole left side exploded into unspeakable, searing pain. As the force of the impact spun his body, he whipped out with one long leg, knocking the barrel of the gun off course for its second, near point-blank shot, the wall spewing evaporated sheetrock where the bullet struck.

But Elena was a better fighter than to lose her grip on her gun so easily. However, close as they were now, it was difficult to get the firearm in position to shoot. Yazoo was simply too nimble, and more than able to deflect even with his favored arm now out of commission. They'd never been able to train any of the boys out of favoring their left hand, but Yazoo had probably been the most successful in approaching ambidextrous.

Still, Elena was more skilled with hand to hand combat than Yazoo. When it came to the three brothers, they really were best suited for the weapons to which they'd been assigned, which would have put her in a tight spot if she'd come up against Loz. But TURKs weren't permitted to specialize. They had to know how to handle the fight as it came to them, so the gunman suffered in his state of disarm.

Given this, Elena was able to gradually push Yazoo back, forcing him to retreat further and further down the hall. There was no where really for her to corner him, but as they traded blocks and blows Yazoo began to slowly wear down. The crimson sweater failed to hide the profuse bleeding from his the wound in his shoulder, just staining the thickly knit fabric all the darker. Relentless motion kept his heart rate elevated, quickly pumping volumes of precious scarlet vitae through his dilated veins and out the ragged hole.

Landing a hard kick square in Yazoo's stomach, Elena finally propelled him back far enough that she could get off another shot, this one grazing his ribcage, on level with that fiercely beating heart. She wanted nothing better than to explode the vital muscle into a million bloody shreds and the longer he evaded her expert shot the more hell bent on that specific target she became. It was that particular twisted organ, that vacant seat of the human soul that she wanted to eradicate, more than any other part of him.

Nothing lived there but a putrid corruption of emotion that she could hardly bring herself to even compare to love. A sick devotion to a warped family that all together needed nothing more than complete extermination from the face of the Planet. She had born witness to it, been subject to the unspeakable violence it invented in her time captive to Jenova's children, and its evil and perversion were beyond compare. In Elena's mind it would be a mercy to every party involved to simply dispatch the deranged creature to whatever hell he was destined to.

Her next two shots missed entirely, the third slammed into Yazoo's upper arm as he rushed her, throwing his body into her and grabbing for the gun. The struggle was brief, succeeding only in speeding another shell straight through Yazoo's upper thigh, taking the leg out from under him. As he fell Elena's knee shot up, connecting hard with his sharp chin, propelling him backward as he continued down.

Yazoo was both shocked and angered by the sudden turn of events, not accustomed to actually sustaining this much damage, cursing himself for being taken by surprise and letting her get in that first critical shot. He landed in a violent sprawl, looking for all the world like a marionette that had suddenly had its strings cut, but stunned for only a short moment before he was fighting to get his limbs back under himself.

Elena strode up quickly, kicking the wounded gunman over roughly as he'd pushed up on his good arm. Laying him thus flat out on his back, she planted the heel of one boot swiftly and forcefully between the young man's lanky legs, taking small revenge in leaning her weight into it as she leveled the barrel of her gun. Yazoo's spine arched hard under the sudden burst of intimate agony, presenting his heaving chest a perfect target for Elena to take her shot.

Strangely, though, Yazoo felt no pain as the explosive roar of the bullet tore the momentary silence wide apart, and his world blossomed brilliant crimson before finally going dark.

**Author's remarks:** I don't know enough about combat to effectively describe grand battles like those fought in Advent Children… I hope you'll all forgive me if this is about the best I can do. :3 There probably won't be many even as long or intense as this, but we'll see.

**Translations:** Not a single one.


	14. The Eyes of Tomorrow

"You can take it to court, if you like, Mr. Wallace, but I'm afraid that won't be of any benefit to either yourself or Shin-Ra. At the moment we'd prefer to simply get on with business than busy ourselves with counter-suits and dealing with the courts. If you push the matter, you'll only find that our contracts are completely in order and are not, as you say, unconscionable." The TURK's tone was smooth and self-assured, unruffled as his carefully pressed suit and perfectly straight ebony hair. His words were completely with out accent, neither from his native Wutai, nor his years in Midgar, a pure academic manner of speech that the much more colloquial oil-driller found unnerving.

"However, rather than wasting time and money in legal battles, or simply parting empty handed, President Rufus has authorized me to make a proposition. The truth is Shin-Ra intends to drill that land as well, however we no longer have either the staff or the equipment for a project of that scale. As Wallace and Dyne Drilling has already hired in most of the miners of North Corel and the geologists of Bone Village, it leaves us little option than to contract with you in this endeavor.

"Before you jump to objections, Mr. Wallace," and Tseng had indeed interrupted Barret, circumventing a stream of colourful anti-Shin-Ra sentiments, "I would ask you to remember that our corporation is not entirely the same institution with which you dealt during the events at Corel. I can personally vouch for then-Vice-President Rufus' noninvolvement, as well as the TURKs' department. As I understand it you're well aware that the military attack was under the initiative of Scarlet and Heidegger."

"You expect me t' believe they didn't have you're boss's go-ahead on that one then?" Barret's massive arms were crossed firmly over his expanse of chest, his entire attitude radiating his complete lack of faith in the TURK's sincerity, and disinclination to accept his excuses. Tseng did not appear ruffled.

"Yes, actually, I do. If left to Rufus' wishes and given to my department, there would have been a much more subtle and thorough investigation, and those particularly responsible for the damage to the reactor would have been dealt with. Severely and publicly. The leveling of an entire unarmed village only enforced the image of Shin-Ra as a stupid, brutal animal. Rufus much prefers the concept of intelligent, localized lethality.

"Your average human beings are well capable enough to keep themselves in line, especially if they understand that it is specifically the act of stepping out of line that brings trouble. Keeping even those who mind their own business, get to work on time every day, concern themselves with their families, in constant terror for their lives… only inspires heroics…"

"How's that any better than how his old man was runnin' things, huh? Didn't seem like there was any less need for heroes, after Rufus took over, not to me."

Tseng tilted his head to the side, sheaves of black hair sliding across his shoulders as he regarded Barret, looking surprised at the former Ecoterrorist's blatant insinuations. "Those were circumstances far beyond Shin-Ra's control in any capacity, that required the actions of you and yours. As for the attitudes of the company's current incarnation… Aren't they the ideal? Those with great power shepherd those who only aspire to live their lives in calm, and wield their might only against those who would disrupt the social order? If things had progressed in Corel, as I had described, even you would still be contently enjoying the benefits of our corporation's good will."

"With the Makou reactors still suckin' the life outta the Planet? I don't think so."

"We were unaware of the ecological impact of the reactors at that time. Until Meteor there was no concrete proof of a Living Planet, only religious dogma and untested theories. I won't say the lack of investigation into the matter wasn't a fault, but the situation has changed vastly. The concerns of the Shin-Ra are the concerns of the Planet. We understand now with an all too painful clarity how our destinies are intertwined.

"For Shin-Ra to prosper, the world must prosper, and Shin-Ra does possess a great talent for rapid success in the areas to which the corporation applies its efforts. We have much to offer one another, if we can put aside our differences and work together. We each have our reasons to distrust one another, but we have come together before, when the world was in crisis. This time the threats may not be so eminent, but the stagnation of the world is nothing to be taken lightly. If you can agree not to begrudge the Shin-Ra company some measure of personal success, we would gladly see everyone enjoy the Planet's Renaissance."

Tseng fell silent, watching the other man carefully, reading signs in every tiny motion, every grumbling breath, every twitch of Barret's shrewd chocolate eyes. He was already certain that a concrete answer would not come from this meeting alone, but also that the uncharacteristic lengths of speech to which he'd gone had not been wasted efforts. There was at least an uncertainty haunting the edges of the oil-driller's thoughts, a crack in the armour of his intense prejudice against the Shin-Ra Corporation.

"Neither of us can make head-way on this project until we reach some manner of accord, Mr. Wallace, so feel free to consider my offer at your leisure. I'm sure many difficulties will arise from the North Corel men in regards to a joint venture, but if at some point you feel inclined to accept, rest assured we can find perfectly peaceful means of ensuring their cooperation. Shin-Ra, by any other name," and he smiled softly, letting the implications hang.

Barret was hardly as well-versed in contracts as the Shin-Ra assassin-cum-lawyer, but he did understand the suggestion the TURK was making. Wallace and Dyne Drilling could contract out to one of Shin-Ra's subsidiary companies and the regular employees would never know the difference in where the paychecks came from. Unless someone decided to follow the paper trails and realize Shin-Ra was the parent company, the involvement of the fallen world-power would be a complete non-issue.

Barret Wallace didn't appreciate that manner of underhanded deception. At all.

He didn't get a chance to educate the TURK on that matter though. Tseng's cell phone began ringing on the tail end of his words, and from the look on his face as he surveyed the video-screen it was not a call he'd be able to simply let ring through. Standing and bowing with formal courtesy, Tseng excused himself from Barret's cramped mobile office, entreating the driller to think the offer over one last time, before stepping back out into the dusty Corel evening, flicking open his new phone and taking the call.

He gazed out at the burning orange sunset, playing hide-and-seek between the chilly Corel Mountains as he listened to Elena's brief on the attack at Healin Lodge. Cursing Rude and Reno's ineffectiveness he agreed to return to Midgar, for the safety of the President, as soon as he could get in the air.

Flicking the phone closed and pocketing it tersely, he made his way across the mostly empty field, toward the flat stretch and the waiting helicopter. Over the foothills that banked the plane, two children on birdback raced one another back toward the little village of modest, cozy houses, laughing to one another and goading each other on. The great green chocobos upon which the children rode whistled and warked, sharing in their riders' enthusiasm in the cool of the evening.

Tseng paused at the edge of the flat where the helicopter rested, still and silent, not yet prepared to take off. Watching the two he felt a sincere wish that the rebuilding of Shin-Ra was as beneficial to the world as he had pitched to his former adversary, though he had no reason to doubt it was any other way. It would indeed be quite a long while before Shin-Ra actually had the sort of global power that could be abused in the old ways, but the world was wiser now. Even if they'd been inclined to, the Shin-Ra wouldn't get away with anything truly sinister.

Suddenly one of the riders pulled something from his saddle bags and threw it down in the other bird's path. The girl's mount suddenly pulled up sharply, throwing its petite rider into its feathery neck before it dove for the ground, pecking furiously. The little girl slid down the animal's bowed neck to the ground, landing with a quiet "Oof!" and the reigns still in her hands, recovering herself enough to at least glare perturbedly at the willful animal.

"Tantal greens," she muttered to herself. "TANTAL GREENS! DENZEL, THAT'S NOT FAIR!" The boy seemed not to hear her though and the girl simply sighed, brushing off her knees before she noticed Tseng had approached her, gallantly offering a hand up off the dirt. She took it shyly and the two regarded one another for a moment in silence before Marlene was able to work up a quiet, "Thanks…"

She recognized him, Tseng was sure. He certainly knew who she was, and though he was not surprised to see the girl, godchild of Barret Wallace, whom the TURKs had kidnapped along with Elmyra Gainsborough two years before… He was taken a little off-guard by her appearance. The twisting braid, the soft pink scarf tied in her hair… The deliberate meaning behind that was not at all lost on him, and made him suddenly feel just how long it had been since he'd seen his beautiful, most favorite prey, the Cetra child, Aerith.

She'd looked just like this when she'd first been brought in by Hojo and his independent forces, along with her mother Ifalana. Tseng had only been a trainee then, hoping some day to get his promotion into the TURKs… And he'd tried to quell his pity for her frightened loneliness because sympathy was a weakness he shouldn't be able to afford.

He'd never been able to be anything but sympathetic to that poor girl however. Had foolishly risked everything to keep her hidden from the rest of Shin-Ra, trying to persuade her to go by her own free will. All the nostalgia crept back into him now and he was forced to remember she was gone, completely, from this world… He'd avoided Sector Five for two years now, not admitting even to himself that this let him pretend she might still be tending her flowers there, happily, and in fear that his next visit might take her away.

Sephiroth had taken her away, with the same cold steel blade that had rendered Tseng unable to do anything to prevent it.

"Ojisan…?" But the little girl's eyes were the warm hazel of the dusty earth, not the deep green of secret forests like Aerith's had been. Though the feeling was close, it wasn't quite the same. Tseng snapped himself from the trance at last and smiled gently.

"My name is Tseng, remember? Shall I help you back up?" With a wide and trusting smile, Marlene Wallace nodded her little head and accepted the TURK's careful boost back up into her saddle as the great green bird picked up its beak, finished with its favorite snack. Giving her mount a soft kick, the girl took off toward her hometown again, waiving over her shoulder at him.

She called out her thanks and called him by name before disappearing back among the houses. Tseng watched until she was completely out of sight before turning back to the helicopter.

**Author's remarks:** Short and sweet, but I wanted to get something up and finally the inspiration for something that could be a complete chapter came to me. I've been struggling through some powerful bad writer's block at the moment and still have a couple chapters _started_ but no where near complete enough to put up. :P Sorry for the very long wait, I'll see what I can do to get things kicked into gear again.

**Translations:** Ojisan – Literally, it's the respectful way to say "uncle" but much like other familial terms it's also the polite way to talk to a stranger you don't know. In this case it indicates a man of enough years to not be your Oniisan (brother) but not enough to be your Ojiisan (Grandpa).


	15. Green Eyed Monsters

Green eyes… Depthless, unfathomable Makou green eyes tracked every movement inside the Seventh Heaven, as though there were some vital secret to be unlocked from the motions of the staff and patrons. It unnerved Tifa every time she felt that gaze come to rest on her, made ice trickle down the length of her spine.

The change of garb from combat leathers to a t-shirt and beat-up cargo pants didn't do all that much to change her feelings about him, either. To be more honest now he just seemed like a wolf in sheep's clothing. He blended in with the rest of the Edge civilians just fine, but there was nothing to be done about that silvery hair and those piercing green eyes. The meaning they carried for Tifa would never be erased; distinctive marks of evil incarnate.

To avoid the severely uncomfortable feeling that Kadaj's presence in her bar gave her, Tifa spent most of the early evening hassling Reno, who was in a suitably foul enough mood to snap back satisfactorily. She just had to try not to think about how much more unsettling it really was that something had Reno, the most laid back and easy going of the TURKs, snarling over his tequila shots.

Most of the time Reno was a pretty happy drunk, a down right blast once he was plastered, but he still wasn't quite drunk enough, yet, to have forgotten the last couple phone calls he'd received from Tseng and Rufus. Given the state of things it was probably better that Reno keep in condition to stay on top of his game, but at the moment he was of the opinion he'd been putting in FAR too much over time already. It was time to try and unwind.

Thanks to Tifa's finest tequila he was managing that at least a little quicker than his hostess was. He tried to offer her a couple shots both in good spirits and bad, depending on how the repartee was going at the time, but it seemed the fighting woman had absolutely no intentions of letting herself become inebriated when there was this much potential violence in the air.

Reno'd have been grateful for a good brawl that wouldn't lead to mass destruction though. If he could manage to bust a jaw or two with out taking out any of the bar walls that've been alright with him. Didn't look like there'd be much chance of that though, for the most part other patrons were being pretty careful and quiet over their meals and drinks. Not surprising considering the reputations of not only Rude and Reno, but Tifa Lockhart and Cloud Strife as well. Their strength and heroism wasn't well publicized, but there was a certain population which most the regulars were part of, who knew the stories of AVALANCHE and their adventures. Needless to say, there weren't many who wanted to make trouble in the Seventh Heaven, especially not tonight.

Once in a while Reno let his eyes flick to the television screen suspended in the corner, tracking the coverage of the recent havoc rained down on Edge and the ruined city of Midgar. Any moment he was expecting new reports on the attack at Healin Lodge. Hopefully the Shachou had been able to pull strings fast enough to keep that hushed up, but Shin-Ra had a harder time these days, having less weight to throw around. …For the moment, the TURK amended to himself. Still, it should be enough to keep the mention of Yazoo and Loz out of things at least. Right now Kadaj still thought them dead, as far as Reno knew, which was best. If he started thinking he could get his gang back together and start causing trouble again it would only make Reno's job that much more difficult.

Frowning to himself Reno motioned Tifa over, "Oi, Neechan, just leave me the bottle." It earned him a rather parental feeling, disapproving sort of glare. As he poured himself another shot, Reno reflected on Tifa's excellent maternal qualities. She'd been taking care of orphans for the last couple years, had enough patience to baby Cloud and he was worse than an angsting hormonal teen any day, and then there were those breasts… Reno almost felt a twinge of jealousy at whatever squalling babe might one day have the privilege of nursing there…

And for not the first time he had to question what the hell was wrong with one Cloud Strife that he didn't just pounce this woman every chance he got. Seeing the would-be SOLDIER seated in a booth with Kadaj, utterly enamored of the brat for reasons Reno couldn't fathom, he seriously had to question Cloud's credentials as a man… He understood that Cloud's background was deeply tied into the Jenova Project, the same as Kadaj, and they both had this weird connection through that outer-space freak and her mental kid, but… After all they'd been through, personally Reno'd prefer to be pillowing his head on that ample chest than digging up dead conspiracies and painful memories with the enemy. But, to each their own.

Seated across from his niisan, Kadaj pushed the food on his plate around listlessly. Fiercely hungry and lacking appetite both at once, he picked at Tifa's homemade stew and potatoes, the rich savory taste foreign to him. "They never fed us like this… It was always about what was best for our development, not what we liked or not…" He explained finally, when Cloud had asked if there was something wrong with it. "It's good though, I just…"

Cloud nodded softly, dipping a fork full of mashed potato into the gravy of his stew. "You have so much on your mind. I know. It makes it difficult to eat. Take your time, we're not in a hurry right now."

"Mm… I want to get out of here though… I'm not used to having so many people around me all the time. Mostly I was alone, with only a few people near by, at most. Doctors, nurses, instructors. But I spent so much time just on my own, in my room or training. Not to mention, I want to get away from those damned TURKs. Are they really staying here?" The distaste was raw, unmasked.

Cloud sighed as well, nodding again. "They're insisting. Tifa's putting them up, begrudgingly, but she doesn't trust you, and those two are at least some assurance to her, even if Reno's irritating as all hell. Don't hold it against her though, she's just trying to protect what's important to her."

Kadaj flicked his gaze over to the bar hostess once again, watching her wipe down the bar top as one customer left, before another took his place. "I don't… I don't know all of what happened to you before, but if you had to face _him_… Then after what happened yesterday, I wouldn't trust me either…"

Cloud watched Kadaj's still features. His eyes were still turned in Tifa's direction, but it was plain that he was no longer truly watching her. He'd lost his focus on the flustered hostess and had turned inward, considering things that Cloud could only guess at, things he hoped Kadaj would soon trust him enough to reveal. The former mercenary was particularly interested in Kadaj's perspective of that last battle. Had he been aware of it all? When Sephiroth had possessed and altered his form?

Cloud strongly suspected so. The boy wasn't asking any questions on what had happened, but exactly how Kadaj had experienced it all was a fascinating mystery. Cloud had felt the loss of control over his own actions thanks to Jenova's influence before, but not nearly in such an all-consuming manner. To _become_ Sephiroth…

But he was cautious of prying too quickly. Cloud had a tendency to shut down himself if pressed in such personal matters, and the last thing he wanted was Kadaj going tight-lipped. With patience Kadaj might come to want to talk about it on his own. Cloud merely had to prove himself a confidant worth trusting in.

After a moment Kadaj finally dragged himself back to the moment, looking back to the table and poking at a carrot again. Letting the fork fall he sighed in his frustration and looked up to Cloud pointedly, saying straight out, "I'm going to go mad like this. Is there somewhere we could spar?"

The older man blinked, a little taken off guard, but then it made sense that someone with Kadaj's background was accustomed to daily martial training, and would make use of the practice to alleviate stress. The relative inactivity of the day, in comparison to the high level tension of the last few were taking a toll on him, and his composure had been sufficiently damaged in the battles to make it difficult to find calm.

After a moment, Cloud nodded, finding the idea of sparring with Kadaj actually appealing. It would be a chance to contemplate the nature of the boy through his fighting, without the threat of lethal damage, a luxury not previously afforded by their life-or-death encounters. "We'll go up to the roof. I'll go talk to Reno about your sword."

Kadaj was more than willing to let Cloud deal with that matter now. The TURK was becoming more a nuisance than entertaining when he was annoyed lately anyway. While his niisan went about procuring his weapon for him, Kadaj did his best to try to make at least a little more of a dent in the stew. He knew he needed his strength. It was just so difficult not to feel so worked up.

Once he had Souba back in his hands and could run through a few _kata_ though, he knew he'd feel better. Just meditating on it now was helpful, and he too was looking forward to a chance to analyze his niisan through the use of his blade. Cloud Strife was almost more of a mystery to Kadaj than the silver haired youth was to him. Rufus Shin-Ra had given him a general description and he had certain other understandings of this disowned member of Jenova's "family," but…

"You've got to be mad." Reno leaned against the bar, looking up at the blonde standing over him, wishing he was drunk enough to have just imagined Cloud had just asked for the kid's sword. The look on the would-be SOLDIER's face, though, was serious and sane enough, to Reno's immense chagrin.

"He could level this building with a spell and I'm certain he's sufficiently lethal with just his bare hands," he watched the TURK scowl, but rather than getting irritated with him, he simply gave the redhead a cocky smirk. "Anyway, if he tries anything, I'll protect you."

That managed to earn smiles even from Rude and Tifa, though Reno's partner did his best not to be seen. The mortification on Reno's face was priceless though and Tifa had to put a hand to her mouth to stifle the giggling. Rude excused himself from the bar to go retrieve Kadaj's weapon, Reno's desperate loss for a comeback simply too much to take. He also preferred that the comment didn't get directed toward himself any more than it already did by default of his involvement with Reno.

After another moment of basking in the redhead's glare, Cloud turned himself back around in the direction of the booth, to wait with Kadaj. Reno muttered something nasty under his breath and turned back around to face the bar, downing another shot before folding his arms on the bar top. "What are you simpering about, huh?" he snarled, seeing Tifa still smirking at his expense. "Like it doesn't just get you wet, thinkin' bout him playing hero."

That wiped the smile right off her pretty little mouth and earned Reno a swift slap in the face. The whole bar went still for a moment at the almost echoing sound of skin on skin, and all eyes were on the bar tender and her infamous Shin-Ra corporate customer, his face turned aside and eyes closed, her arm still poised in the air.

There was that electric sense of imminent violence in the air again as Reno slowly opened his vibrant green eyes, smoldering with golden alcohol-soaked wrath… But rather than picking that fight, as he so longed to do, the TURK just grabbed up his shot glass and bottle as he stood and stalked away from the bar to an empty table against the far wall.

Rude came back in just enough time to see his partner throw his lanky body down into the chair and the air of the tavern just begin to break up. He watched everyone cautiously from behind his dark shades as he handed Kadaj's blade off to him, kept a particular eye on Tifa Lockhart as Cloud and the boy made their way through the bar and up the stairs. There was an intense worry spoken in the subtle creasing of her brow, the parting of her soft pink lips as her own gaze lingered on the empty staircase.

Rather than join his partner at the table, Rude strode through the bar with long, clipped strides, disappearing into the side room that Tifa had allocated for his and Reno's use. The light slamming of the door caught the attention of a few of the more jumpy patrons, knocked Tifa from her reverie and left Reno looking mildly contemplative.

But his tequila was starting to catch up with him, making him apathetic and he decided against chasing Rude down. Let him sulk. If he wasn't going to say anything, he could just rot in his silence then. As a number of customers began to gradually trickle out, getting fed up with the tension in the bar tonight, the red head poured himself another drink.

**VIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVII**

It was going to be an early night for the Seventh Heaven. Only just a little before eleven o'clock and the last real customer had just taken his leave, tipping kindly before making his way home. Tifa was left nearly by herself to wash up the glasses and wipe down the tables, save for the TURK, passed out in his seat.

Even while the steaming water crashed against the deep metal sinks and tumblers clinked and clacked against one another the red head slept soundly on his arms, near emptied bottle and lonely shot glass still within reach. He didn't look nearly so vicious, quietly snoring away, and Tifa wasn't inclined to wake him any sooner than she had to, to preserve that illusory peace.

She had to take a little credit for his temper though, and reflected that she might have been more gentle with him, rather than picking fights. It was just difficult to pin down her feelings toward him, he was such an unpredictable guy. It was a little frightening, actually, how sweet and humane he could be in one moment, like taking the trouble to help her and Cloud find those kidnapped kids… but then he could do things like dropping the Sector 7 plate and never show even a smidge of regret for the innocent lives that had cost.

And he didn't seem concerned with that. There was no internal conflict between the hero and the villain. She supposed that was just the nature of a successful scoundrel, but there seemed to be something severely imbalanced to Tifa about that… Made her wonder just how much his good will could be trusted.

Eventually, though, the bar was clean and all that was left was Reno and his tequila. She could just let him sleep it off there on the table, but she wondered if that wouldn't be too spiteful of her? He'd probably wake up with a killer hang over and a crick in his neck that wouldn't make him any more pleasant to deal with in the morning than he had been tonight… So after a moment Tifa poured a large glass of cool water and made her way over to the TURK.

Setting the glass down in place of his shooter she slipped into the seat across from him and reached over to gently shake his shoulder. "Reno…"

The read head roused slowly, awake before he actually opened his mossy green eyes. He regarded Tifa in silence a moment before she pushed the water a little closer to him, and he wrapped his thin fingered hand around it with a sort of wondering expression stealing over his elfin features.

"You've got to be dehydrated after drinking like that, c'mon. Bet you're even more of a shit with a migraine." The tone was gentle though, accompanied by a small smile that Reno returned, silently conceding the point. So as to ward off that very condition he raised his head from the table top slowly and picked up the water, taking several deep swallows before bothering to pause to breathe.

"Thanks," he slowed down on the water, but even just that was helping to relieve the familiar, unpleasant feeling of previously having his dry tongue cleaving to the roof of his mouth. By the time he finished it off, he'd be feeling right as rain. Reno'd been a long time drinker, age of majority never mattering much to him. He was used to putting it away by now, and tequila being his drink of choice he didn't suffer nearly the same ill effects less seasoned alcoholics did. Still, Tifa's concern was very touching to him.

Seeing the strange sort of dopy smile growing on Reno's face, Tifa chuckled softly and tilted her head. "What's that about?"

"Nothin'. You. Just thinkin' what a nice girl you are, even to a rogue like me." He shrugged one narrow shoulder and took another drink of the cold, clean water, watching Tifa blush a bit.

"I really don't get you, Reno. Some times you seem like another person, behind those emerald eyes." She folded her arms on the table top, head still tilted as Reno shook his.

"Nope. Same guy, I promise. Sorry if that disappoints you," and he seemed to have at least a little genuine regret that she might think badly of him, "But I can't be anything other than me. Makes it confusing for other people sometimes, I know, but it makes things a whole lot easier on me. I've watched guys who can't be honest with themselves, can't reconcile their dark streak with everything else inside…

"Poor bastards. They get scared of themselves, feel like they don't deserve friends or loved ones, 'cause they're always afraid they might hurt them… Sephiroth was like that before he went," and Reno suddenly twitched his head and crossed his eyes, then set his face normal again. "But I know what I'm capable of and what it's for. 's why I do what I do. How I know I'll never turn into some other scary person and hurt people I don't mean to. I'm not a good guy, but I'm alright with that, then."

Tifa did find that a little sad, and sighed softly, resting her chin in one hand. She wondered if it felt liberating, not needing anyone's forgiveness, or if it was a lonely way to live. Reno just shrugged again, still unapologetic, and finished off the water in front of him. Tifa picked up the glass along with the tequila bottle and the shooter, taking them behind the bar to wash up.

Upstairs, the roof access door swung open, then closed, the two men who'd sparred on the roof above not even visible from her vantage before they'd disappeared into Cloud's room, and Tifa let the water run as she gazed at the empty staircase, watching the glow that came from beneath Cloud's shut door. Reno watched Tifa angst in silence, sighing softly as a flare of irritation sparked up again. This time his anger was directed at the ex-mercenary though, the sting of his earlier jab still lingering, the frustration with Cloud's thick headedness smoldering.

Now he was back to being the cocky brat? Who'd had to cajole his moping ass back into action, to actually get something done? Who'd had to drag his unconscious carcass back here so he wouldn't be exposed and vulnerable? So maybe Reno couldn't take Kadaj down single handed, but Cloud would have had his ass handed to him seven times over if Reno and the TURKs hadn't been there to back him up. And now the guy was actually _siding_ with that silver haired whelp, and was leaving a _fine_ beauty out in the cold so he could knock swords with a psychopathic child. The coarser implications of that thought were far from lost on Reno.

Watching Tifa finish up the last of the washing, Reno decided it was high time someone took some action and went for this girl. She was in serious need of a distraction anyway, and since no one else seemed inclined to pay any attention to her, maybe she wouldn't mind venting her frustrations a little more constructively with him. A good fuck was just as good as a decent fight, and he knew she'd been wishing all night she could deck some one, too. She hadn't been playing around when she slapped him.

Pushing himself up from the table quietly he made his way around the bar to stand beside her. As she dried her hands off with the kitchen towel, Tifa didn't even seem to take much notice of the TURK's approach, only starting to ask, "Did you want som-" before he'd taken that last step that put him behind her, able to wrap his long arms beneath hers and draw her body up against him.

Tifa gasped softly as Reno embraced her, feeling his lethal hands rest on her ribcage, just beneath the swell of her breasts, his sharp muzzle sliding against the nape of her neck, through her heavy silken hair. It made the tiny hairs at her hair-line raise, her whole body freeze as she listened to him draw a long breath near her ear, taking in her scent like an animal. For a moment, more than a decade of martial training abandoned her and she simply could not react, but then she gathered her wits about her, swallowing once before setting her tone firm and low. "Reno, don't."

"Why not…?" His voice was quiet, the lust for her evident and it made Tifa shiver, and that made Reno sigh. She didn't like that, not at all, the subtle excitement he'd shown to her fear, the vast implications of such small triggers and suddenly Tifa wasn't sure the added security was worth the trade-off of having some one like Reno around. Suddenly it wasn't sad that he didn't need anyone's forgiveness, it was scary. She tensed further, turning herself around in his hold so that she had him face to face, and after a moment while each one read the other's intense gaze, Reno cinched it. "It's not like Strife's ever going to."

"Wretch!" He caught her hand this time as she tried to smack him, and used it and the arm now around her waist to turn her, almost as if in a dance, so that he had her pinned against the bar, turned so that he blocked the easiest path of retreat. If she couldn't get around him to where the bar opened into the room, she'd have to go over it. The problem was, Tifa wasn't just dealing with any grabby thug. Reno could actually put up a fight which might mean damage to the bar before she managed to throw him out, the last thing she wanted at the moment.

As they came to a momentary standstill Reno took the opportunity to push it a little further, still keeping his arm wrapped firmly around her, but letting his hand slide over the curve of her rear and down her thigh, playing at the edge of her characteristically short skirt, he quirked a brow suggestively giving a small nod toward the stairs. "C'mon, don't be like that. You've gotta be aching for it by now. Tanoshii koro misete yaru zo, to."

"No way, Reno, let me go." She didn't even wait for him to back off though, just tried to snatch her hand back and push the lanky man away. He responded immediately by tightening his grip though, and pushed himself hard up against her, the sharp bones of his hips digging into her as he kept her pinned. Their eyes met in fierce challenge, Tifa glaring in unmasked contempt. "Vile coward, you wouldn't dare," she hissed quietly.

Reno's hand only slid further up her thigh, sneaking beneath her skirt suggestively, "You so sure I wouldn't, _Lockhart Ojousan?_" he purred her maiden name, dangerously. "You seem to have a developed a pretty low opinion of me all of a sudden… What makes you think I won't go that far?" The look haunting the man's feral green eyes made Tifa shudder again, very uncomfortably. It wasn't the TURK and it wasn't the cheeky asshole she usually saw, but just as he'd said, it was still Reno and that's what was most disturbing. He wasn't drunk at all now, he was thinking straight, and he was doing things to her with his eyes that she knew he could do just as easily and guiltlessly with his tongue, his cock and his bare dexterous hands.

It made her feel indescribably dirty and only slightly less violated than if he actually had, but she didn't break his probing gaze, just snarled in her boundless fury, "There'd be nothing left to bury in your expensive corporate plot, once Cloud got through with you."

Reno's eyes went wide, he looked damn near close to smacking _her_ and Tifa prepared herself to break his hold and counter the blow. But in the end it never came. Reno just took his hands off her, raising them up as though in surrender and stalked away. He left her standing astounded behind the bar, going straight back for the table where he'd left his cigarettes. Picking the box up off the table he knocked one out, more than a little violently, and shoved the cancer stick between his teeth, mumbling something almost incomprehensible.

"What was that!" Tifa demanded, half catching Reno's muffled diatribe, and with out even looking at her, the TURK raised his voice, keeping it just low enough not to wake the place, but still harsh enough to call it shouting.

"I said you're _pathetic!_ You're so fucking _weak_ I don't know why anyone wastes their time on you! Ch! _Cloud_," he sneered, spitting the name like profanity, like it left a disgusting flavor cloying in his mouth. "Sure he'd come and kick my ass, but Neechan, we both know you can hold your own, then. We'd have been flinging Materia spells at one another before I coulda really ever had you." It was almost more than Tifa could bear, but Reno wasn't about to shut up.

"Why don't you stop waiting around for _him_ to turn into your knight in shining armor, huh? The damsel in distress act is getting _really_ tired. Strife's a fighter alright; a real Grade **A** Hero, but he ain't doing it for you, then. Y'know? …Fuck Cloud. It's only thanks to Rude and his stupid grade-school crush that I don't lay a hand on you."

Tifa's face was red with anger, listening to the TURK abuse both her and Cloud. And given the earlier part of their conversation, she was starting to get a pretty clear view of how much she actually meant in Reno's estimation. She'd been ready to lay right into him, bless him right out of her bar, until the last bit. When Reno brought up his partner's crush, her brain missed a beat.

"Rude…?"

The red-head regarded her as though she hadn't a thought in her head, shaking his own as he finally got around to lighting his cigarette. "Heh, _yes, Rude_. He's been pining after you since AVALANCHE first started fucking with us Shin-Ra, got a hold of one of the surveillance tapes with you laying some of our troops to waste, and then after you all kicked _my_ ass, back in the day," he sounded only slightly bitter to be mentioning it, "That was it, smitten.

"But you might have noticed, he doesn't talk much, so I'm not surprised he hasn't said anything to you. Poor guy. Us TURKs are intimidating as a species enough as it is, then he's got that attitude. Kinda hard to cruise chicks that way. While I'd hardly say that it's just show… That's not the whole Rude-dude up front on the surface, then …Still not quite sure what he sees in a wench like you."

Tifa was speechless, couldn't even retort to Reno's insult. Yes, she'd had other guys flirt with her and occasionally crush on her over the years. Being a gorgeous and well-developed young woman, tending bar under the plate there was ample opportunity for things like that… But Tifa had never once considered any of those men to be serious, and had never taken them seriously herself. They'd all been customers after all. It was a job, and flirting just a little meant infinitely better pay. Surely Cloud had only ever been the one to think anything more of her.

But to hear that some one else had been carrying a torch for her for that long, without once saying anything… She'd thought only Cloud could be that attached to her, but to be truly honest these days she wasn't really even sure if that attachment was still there… Or was it ever there at all? She'd all but literally twisted his arm to get him to make that promise all those years ago. Maybe with her and Cloud all it was ever destined to be was friendship, because even after all this waiting, he still hadn't stepped in to fill the void.

"You should have seen it," Reno spoke up again, but he'd completely lost the antagonizing tone. "Well, you couldn't have 'cause you were passed out at the time, but when we found you guys in that old church, Rude didn't even say anything, just walked over, checked your vitals and scooped you up like you were the only one there. Even though he's got better endurance than I do, the punk left _me_ to drag your boyfriend's heavy ass around."

Reno permitted himself a smirk as a bright red bloom spread across Tifa's delicate nose and cheeks. She had her eyes cast down, so he wouldn't get in trouble for it. He watched her in her silent consideration a moment longer, noticed her playing with a large pewter ring that resembled Cloud's general motif. Raising a brow and nodding to the bauble he commented, just a little too casually. "Right hand ring finger, huh…?"

He was rewarded with an angry glare and a fiery blush all across the fighter's face, even to her ears. He was surprised the ring wasn't flying up to leave its imprint in his jaw after a cheap-shot like that, but decided it was best to just take his exit with the last word in than wait around for her reply. Rude would kill Reno if he ever found out his partner had blabbed, but… Nah, who would Tifa ever tell a stupid thing like that?

Tifa watched the red-head go in silent fury, glad he hadn't made her kick him forcibly out of the bar. It irked her to know that it would only be so long until he came back, still on assignment to the silver haired boy, but she hoped he made his walk a good long one. Looking back down at the ring though, she couldn't help the confusion welling in her heart. She'd always been so strong and independent, had trained under one of the best master fighters and even though she could take down grown men three times her size… sometimes she still felt lost and in need of rescuing… Reno'd torn her to shreds for it, but… was it really wrong to feel like that?

But even after the battles with Sephiroth, when Cloud had been at his most heroic, when he'd saved them all, opened the door for the rescue from the Planet… When he'd pulled the two of them from the collapsing rock-face still inside the northern crater, it had been Aerith he was thinking of then, not his old friend, Tifa Lockhart.

Now once again, he was the Planet's greatest, unknown hero, and while she was still his biggest fan, his constant cheerleader in the hardest times, he only had eyes for the struggle, was paying all his attention to their adversary, and had little to no time to even explain things to her. It was getting tiring… She was tired. And she was starting to see why Reno had been so merciless to her.

Looking to the staircase, she could see the light still creeping out beneath Cloud's door, imagined him and the boy discussing endlessly the strange history they shared… Finally tearing her gaze away she glanced to the side, to the darkened door way of what had once been the room shared by Denzel and Marlene. Tifa dropped her hold upon the wolf ring and wandered absently that direction.

She opened the door as softly as she could manage, the light from the main room creeping in slowly, spilling over the form of the broad-shouldered TURK sleeping scrunched up in the bed. It really wasn't any shorter than a mattress should be, but Rude was just so tall and long-limbed, he didn't really fit… Then all the toys and children's sketches decorating the small room made him look that much more out of place.

She was just about to close the door again, to go to bed herself, when the previously sleeping man shifted, rolling over to get a look at who was peering in on him, and Tifa found herself meeting his sleepy, hazel eyes. Uncertain as to how to explain what she'd thought to be covert spying, the woman shifted uncomfortably, and after a moment said, "Reno… He stepped out suddenly. I'm sorry, I don't know when he'll be back… I didn't mean to wake you, I just…" But Rude just shrugged his shoulders, sighed a closed mouth sort of yawn and tried to adjust himself more comfortably on the mattress.

His brows were still knit softly when he closed his eyes, a man who slept a troubled sleep, and Tifa found herself wondering…

Reno was all surface. He really was the joker and the bad boy and the villain right there for everyone to see, and if what had just happened was any honest indication, there wasn't anything deeper to him. Rude, in his silence and behind his cool, dark shades, seemed to be infinitely more complex. She wondered what it was that attracted him to the life of a Shin-Ra TURK, and what it was that attracted Rude to her…

But Reno was right, he was really so imposing… She wasn't sure if she could have ever brought herself to ask. After a moment, she just stepped back and softly closed the door.

Returning to the bar, she took down the bottle of tequila she'd cracked for Reno earlier that night, poured herself a shot and tossed it back. The liquor burned going down, and despite her occupation, Tifa wasn't such a heavy drinker, but tonight she just wanted to forget.

Fuck it all. At the moment there was _no one_ to save her, and right now it just wasn't worth it.

**Author's Remarks:** BIIIIIIG LOOOOONG update to make up for the AGES of silence and that short little excuse for a chapter that proceeded this. I've been gearing up for this for a while, had most of the fight between Tifa and Reno written out, as well as everything past it, but I was having a pain in the ass time _getting_ there. Now, it's out. Wee! Special thanks to Daenis for the sledge hammer. I love working with Reno, he is _amazingly_ fun to write for. Getting into the head-space to make him the fun little asshole and still keeping in mind that _at-the-same-time_ he is an evil loathsome bastard is fascinating!

Also, though this doesn't have much to do with the story at present. I'm getting tired of all you Loz-haters out there. Well, not necessarily haters, but all you guys that are so damned apathetic about him. I don't want to hear it any more. I don't give a damn if you love Yazoo more just because he's all pale and skinny and has long hair. I DO like Loz and think he's an interesting character, so he will continue to play a substantial role in this story as long as I have use for him. :P

And no I will not tell you yet whether or not Yazoo is dead. It could even be as many as two more chapters before I get around to that, and you can only blame yourselves for instigating my sadism. (Evil grinning.) On with the translating!

**Translations:**

"Tanoshii koro misete yaru zo, to" – "I'll show you a good time, then."

A couple notes on this: yes, I know about the direct object particle 'wo/o', Reno's speaking casually and dropped it.

Also, "miseru" means to show and adding the "yaru" to it to form "misete yaru" gives it the connotation that he's doing her a favor, but using "yaru", which is mostly reserved for plants, animals, and very little children, as opposed to more polite words like "ageru" makes it pretty derogatory, especially with the sexual connotations of the word "yaru", much like the off-colour connotations its equivalent in English, "do."

Finally, "zo, to" is the particular turn of speech Reno tends to tack on the end of certain sentences in the Japanese version of both AC and the original game. It doesn't really have a literal meaning, though given the sense of continuation implied by the "to", sort of like the word "and", I have Reno occasionally end his sentences in the word "then." It's something I used to hear some people do around my home town. It's not a necessary addition, some people just do it. So if you've noticed this throughout this fan fiction, now you know why. I'm kind of sad the NA version of FFVII didn't at least do _something_ to show Reno speaks differently.

"Ojousan" – This is a more polite way to address a young woman with whom you are unfamiliar than Oneesan, especially a girl younger than yourself, and pretty much translates as "Miss." Tacked on to the end of Tifa's name, it's like saying Ms. Lockhart. Pretty much I did this one in Japanese just so show there is a direct equivalent. :3 I'm having fun giving you people little lessons, actually.


	16. 4 AM Knows All My Secrets

Cloud came in after Kadaj, watching the boy drop himself at the foot of the bed, sheathed sword propped along his side. There was a small grin stretched across Kadaj's pink lips, tired, and not without some seriousness still lurking behind it, but the hours they'd spent together on the roof crossing blades had done much to release the tension that had been building inside. Leaning his own weapon against the wall, Cloud walked past and seated himself on the mattress, just behind the foot-board, and leaned his elbows on his splayed knees.

Both had sufficiently winded each other, neither had managed to damage the other, and they'd each made good on the opportunity to evaluate one another's skill. Cloud kept in mind that Kadaj was still shaken up and a little off his game, but it had been no less valuable an experience, being now a fighter truly experienced enough to calculate for the disadvantage. From what he had seen, under the training of Shin-Ra and with his own determination, at close to age 16 Kadaj had accomplished that which Cloud had only dreamed of then: to become peer to the legendary SOLDIER, Sephiroth.

Cloud had only achieved and surpassed that goal two years ago, but already he believed if they could be pitted against one another Kadaj could meet Sephiroth sufficiently in battle. His only weakness was his occasional desperate instability, but this was only a flaw of youth and his need to prove himself. Kadaj would eventually be able to discipline himself and weed that out, if it didn't get him killed. The only real uncertainty was whether or not the boy could learn to temper the cold hatred that had been both bred and beaten into him with a bit of humility and humanity.

Looking down at this being, simultaneously man, child, and other-worldly creature, he saw clearly the potential for immense greatness. Either of unfathomable evil, or, and Cloud considered this with something bordering on both awe and jealousy, Kadaj could claim the path of destiny abandoned by Sephiroth those many long years ago. For a moment he simply watched Kadaj's serene face, the silver fringe of his lashes resting lightly against his smooth cheeks… Then he reached down and mussed the boy's watery hair, smirking as Kadaj smiled at him and looked up. "Well?"

Kadaj was thoughtful for a moment, reaching up to half heartedly fix his hair. "I would have never defeated you. But I realized that before tonight. I knew it long before, and didn't want to believe it. I admitted it to myself finally, hanging from that edge. I could have let go and retrieved Souba, and you would have merely pursued me until I was destroyed, so I gave up. I reconciled myself to the knowledge that Mother had chosen Sephiroth and he was my only chance of defeating you, of giving Mother what she wanted… But you're stronger even than I thought. Stonger than him."

"I had more at stake, and he under estimated the importance of that. Once, Sephiroth was a great and admirable warrior who possessed much deep and painful wisdom. I do not believe that man exists any longer. Jenova poisoned him beyond healing, then tore him apart until not one shred of his once noble soul actually remained. She keeps his memories, jealously, but ever since that day in Nibleheim he'd been changed, and when we met him again in the Temple of the Ancients, seeking the materia that summoned Meteor, he was no longer anything like the man Sephiroth. Not in speech or actions…"

"You're not wrong," Kadaj drew his knees up against his chest, fingers laced loosely in front of himself. "She uses him as she would a mask, while she uses us like dolls…"

Cloud reached down again, this time smoothing the young man's hair instead of mussing it. Kadaj leaned in like a cat, pushing into his niisan's palm, seeking comfort from the unaccustomed affection. "I'm not going to tell you what you _have_ to do, Kadaj… Or even what you should. But you _can_ resist her, if you want to, if you try." He listened to the boy sigh, a noncommittal silence that he well understood. Cloud did not expect Kadaj to take only a few short days to decide everything, and as far as he knew, they had time. "You are strong though."

"…Thank you." Kadaj's gratitude was quiet, but the feeling profound. Cloud's appraisal, for some reason, was so much more gratifying to him than that of Shin-Ra or Jenova, for whose sake he had been created. Perhaps because his niisan needed nor expected nothing of him it seemed so much more sincere. It lacked the vanity of those who had shaped his existence, and though he hadn't quite decided to betray his mother and follow the black sheep of their family, the kind words of faith did him immeasurable good.

"I'm going to get cleaned up. There are some t-shirts in the bottom drawer, old and soft, if you want something to sleep in," Cloud gestured offhandedly as he rose and moved for the door. Kadaj planted a palm to the floor and pushed himself up, going to look as his niisan disappeared down the hall. Once he'd chosen a shirt, faded navy blue, he took a moment to explore the room with his eyes, while pulling shirts off and over his head.

The room was fairly Spartan, but clean and comfortable, in tones of off white, dark greys and deep blues. A few photographs of Cloud with some of the orphans and his friends. Kadaj didn't think he'd ever had his picture taken for anything but for Shin-Ra to keep on file. Full body mug-shots, and perhaps stills taken from the video records of his combat training. Nothing sentimental.

He pulled on a pair of light grey pyjama pants and seated himself on the edge of the bed, considering silently, until Cloud returned.

VIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVII

Tifa watched the upstairs light go out, and finally put the tequila away. She'd polished off what Reno had left with out even noticing how rapidly the liquor disappeared, and she was well sloshed enough not to even realize that she'd clumsily slipped an empty bottle back onto the shelf.

Keeping her eyes turned sullenly away from the staircase as she came out from around the bar, Tifa considered her options and decided she didn't want to make the climb all the way up to her own room. At the moment she didn't want to be that near to Cloud. She was annoyed with him, because she didn't want to be angry with herself right now, and decided if she _did_ make it up the stairs she'd probably end up barging in and swearing him out. And he'd just stare at her with those huge blue eyes and take every insult that she hurled at him like a penance, before he'd finally look away. She couldn't bear the thought of watching his eyes slip away from hers one more time.

Tears sprung up, catching in her dark eyelashes so they stuck together in little ragged looking clumps, and she turned away from that wall entirely. Which put her face to face with Marlene and Denzel's door… Only Marlene and Denzel weren't sleeping in that room tonight, some one else was. A big, stoic TURK with long, strong arms and a steady, hazel coloured gaze.

Tifa bent down and fumbled with her shoe laces, finally wrestling the knots open and slipped the high-tops off. With them went her socks, and then she was pushing herself up unsteadily, but walked with surprising stealth across the bare, clean hardwood floor. Only the bare minimum of security lighting was on in the bar now, hardly illuminating the tall figure in Denzel's bed as Tifa cracked the door, closing it immediately once she'd slipped in.

Her eyes were already adjusted to the dark, seeing Rude's shape outlined in the night-time city lights pooling through the windows. He was little more than silhouette even when she stood directly over him, pressing slim hands down on the pillowy mattress. The TURK didn't flinch, had probably already been awake and watching her the moment she'd opened the door, perhaps only a little surprised it hadn't been his redhead punk-ass friend. But Tifa didn't wait for words or reactions before she grasped and lifted the sheet and covers, sliding in with more grace than she'd expected of herself next to him.

"Rude… Watashi no koto, suki?" He didn't answer her, but this close she could make out his features, the soft glow of distant electric light reflected in his masked gaze. His brows were knit, even deeper than before, and Tifa slid herself even closer, crossing one slim thigh over his. The TURK slept bare, as she'd expected. "Ne… doushite?"

"…Tsuyoi kara"

Tifa flinched. Tears threatened once again and she turned her face into the mattress, hiding herself behind the edge of the down pillow on which Rude rested his head. She knew she smelt of alcohol, and that simple explanation, so contrary to how she felt, made her see herself as small and pitiful, her actions unspeakably cheap. Sucking in a shuddering breath, she finally burst out softly, losing to her tears. "…I don't think I'm very strong. I bet right now I look pretty damn weak, too…"

"No."

"…No?" The quiet firmness caught Tifa off-guard, she didn't understand him, and now that she was crying, she couldn't stop herself.

Rude pushed himself up onto his elbow and covered her trembling shoulder with his other hand, squeezing ever so gently. "Not weak, just… hurt." She didn't answer him, and Rude was silent a moment himself before he managed to find his words. "Look… It isn't easy for me to say things, but… I like you because you're strong enough to resist me." He knew he was still off when he felt Tifa go slightly tense, lamenting that he was not more erudite.

"Dou yuu imi?" She demanded, reasonably, and Rude fought with himself once again to explain.

"No, I don't mean it like that…" He looked away from her a moment when she turned her dark eyes up to search him, but met her gaze once more as he tried to salvage the situation, convince her he wasn't some sort of sadist. "It's because of what I am. Who I work for. And my image. … A lot of women avoid me because they're afraid. I turn away more because I know they'd still always be too scared to be honest with me. They'd think I could hurt them…"

Tifa could see where he was going. She imagined it would be a miserable sort of relationship, being always so intimidating, never sure if your lovers really trusted you, or were just too damned scared to speak up for themselves…

"But you're strong. You've stood against the entire Shin-Ra corporation, the worst monster the Planet has ever seen, and the sordid history of your closest friend. You're still fighting now. Tomorrow you'll wake up, take some pain killers and keep working to save this place. … Needing some one along the way isn't weakness. I know that. Why do you think us TURKs have partners? That we're a team?"

She considered all he said, silently, still not entirely convinced she didn't deserve these lingering feelings of self-doubt and shame. But she was infinitely relieved that he didn't seem to think her a slut for sneaking in here… Taking the opportunity to switch tracks though, she asked, tentatively, "Ne… Why _did_ you join the TURKs, anyway?"

For the first time, Tifa watched a small smile steal across Rude's face. The look was nostalgic, a little embarrassed even. "Oh… That really is a story you ought to hear from Reno…"

She frowned, the redhead finally entering the conversation. "I don't think Reno and I are going to be on speaking terms for a while…"

Rude frowned softly as well, but didn't ask about the details. She didn't blame him. She didn't really want to give him reason to fall out with his best friend. Reaching up and smoothing that frown with her palm, she coaxed him back to more pleasant topics. "C'mon, tell me… How did you get caught up with a group like the TURKs?"

The smile crept up slowly again and Rude settled himself more comfortably along side her, gesturing off handedly. "Well, Reno and I had been running together in the slums since we were kids, causing all sorts of trouble. But all this really started when Reno took it into his head to double cross Don Zhang, who was in charge of the Sector Six red light district before Corneo got his grubby hands on it…"

VIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVIIVII

Cloud felt Makou eyes trained on him even before he was truly awake. He'd been dreaming something indistinct and patently unsettling when he'd become aware of the jade gaze boring into him.

It was just still dark, on the edge of dawn before its first rosy tendrils touched the dark of the night sky, and everything else about Kadaj still seemed utterly asleep on the mattress across from Cloud, except his eyes. His whole body was still relaxed, one hand curled loosely up close to his mouth, and his breathing was perfectly even as one so gone as to be in dreamless sleep, but consciousness lurked beyond his silver lashes and despite the dark the feral pupils of his eyes were constricted tight.

Cloud regarded the familiar alien intelligence silently, for a moment afraid that he had made a grave mistake… but then Kadaj's lashes drifted closed, he whimpered softly and was still. Cloud waited briefly before he reached out and shook Kadaj gently awake, sighing his own immense relief as wider, puzzled pupils slowly lifted and met his. "You were tossing. Dreaming?" he lied.

Kadaj merely shrugged one shoulder, sighed a closed mouth sort of yawn, and turned back over to sleep.

**Author's Remarks:** I bet you thought I DIED! Nope. Just got a PS2 and a new copy of FFVII for Yule I'll finish this fanfic if it kills me! Now, I have to go get ready for work. : P

**Translations:**

"Watashi no koto, suki?" – "Do you, like me?"

"Tsuyoi kara" – "Because you're strong."

"Dou yuu imi?" – "What do you mean?"


	17. What Dreams May Come

The sound of weeping from a near by exam room had been grating on Yazoo's patience for some time. The nurse taking his vitals and the doctor administering his physical didn't seem concerned by the noise in the least, but the constant snuffling had only continued to gnaw at the edge of Yazoo's attention since the examination began. Eventually the physician left to find some implement or retrieve some sort of information pertaining to his patient, and the nurse was so preoccupied with a personal telephone call that she took no notice when Yazoo lowered himself from the exam table and pattered out of the room.

The sound was coming from another office across the hall and down one door to the right. It seemed as though the staff in charge of this patient had also gotten fed up with the constant crying, for there was no one accompanying the child seated on the sea-green leather exam bed, tiny hands covering his face as he sobbed openly. Yazoo could already see that the other child wasn't that much older than himself. A little taller and a slightly huskier build, but probably only eight or nine years old at best.

Setting a hand on either hip Yazoo set his expression into a disapproving scowl and was about to give the other boy a stern talking too, until the child suddenly brought up an arm to wipe his own damp face, and opened his brilliant aquamarine eyes.

The sight of that breathtaking gaze, glowing softly with the same inner light that suffused Yazoo's own jadeite eyes, erased the mild irritation from a moment before, replacing it utterly with curiosity and wonder. As the other boy lifted his head the florescent ceiling lights caught the silvery peach-fuzz hairs that dusted his closely shorn head, and Yazoo found himself lifting a hand himself, to push back his own wispy translucent bangs, as though he could feel their watery hue with his fingertips.

The boy on the exam table noticed the motion, gaze tracking Yazoo immediately and his pale face suddenly broke out in a bright red blush to be caught in barely restrained tears. But noticing the same similarities in the elfin child standing in the door that Yazoo noticed in him, the older boy obviously found himself unable to look away.

Something instinctive told Yazoo to close the office door. If the nurse noticed him missing or the doctor came back, they might be less inclined to just pop their heads in, but he was certain he'd be immediately dragged back and away from this remarkably familiar stranger the moment he was found. Once the door had clicked satisfactorily behind him, he stepped forward into the room, watching the other boy's eyes intensely.

"Nande naiteru no?" He set his set his small hands on the end of the table, sterile paper crinkling softly under their light weight. The boy regarded him quietly a moment before wiping at his face with his sleeve again. He was wearing the same sort of uniform Yazoo was, black, high collar, carefully pressed lines.

"Because it hurts…" He answered simply. His voice was a little deeper than Yazoo's, a little rougher, though still high and childish, yet young. "The tests always hurt, and they want to do a lot of them today."

Yazoo listened, nodding his small head softly so that his hair fell back into his face. Being constantly scrutinized, subjected to endless tests, sample collections, procedures and examinations… It was a very painful experience. Especially when they administered the Makou. That always made Yazoo very sick, though the doctors always told him it was good for him, would make him stronger and healthier as he grew up. It wasn't very reassuring when he'd spend days at a time not knowing if it was day or night, what was up or down, shivering and puking his guts out.

"Then Professor Hojo yelled at me…" The older boy sniffled again and Yazoo reached over to the counter top, standing on his toes a moment to lengthen his reach so he could pull out a tissue for him. The other child took it gratefully, blowing his nose noisily.

"I hate Hojo," Yazoo returned in reply, rubbing at the back of his neck. He reflected that the other kid was kind of lucky, he didn't have enough hair for Hojo to get his spidry fingers into and twist… Yazoo could have asked to have it cut, but he liked it longer, most the time, and he refused to give that up just because the bent old geezer took advantage of it. "Do you live here, too?"

The boy on the exam table looked a little surprised by the question, nodding with a hint of confusion, as though he'd not taken it into consideration there'd be any one else in the same position as him. Of course, before this Yazoo hadn't known there were any other children here like himself either. None of the doctors or nurses had ever even hinted at it… "I'm Yazoo," he offered finally.

"Loz…" Wadding up the tissue, he dropped his hands into his lap, cupped around the crumpled paper. After a second though, he started sniffling again, and Yazoo just picked up the entire box, climbing up onto the exam table next to him. Loz pulled another tissue out and crumpled it against his mouth, trying to stifle his tears.

Yazoo no longer found himself irritated by the other boy's crying. He only wanted to be close to him, to discover him, to know why they seemed to be so similar, their looks, their situation… and yet they'd never even seen one another. He'd seen people with similar traits before. People with blonde or black or reddish hair, people with blue or brown coloured eyes, people with similar shades of skin… but they'd always had some different combination of those traits, something to set them apart from one another.

But here he had discovered another child with the exact same silver hair, Makou eyes and alabaster skin. He'd never met anyone else with even one of those qualities quite like his. Watching another large crystalline tear roll down the older boy's cheek, he reached out to gently cup his chin. Loz flinched slightly, just as unaccustomed to unknown people touching him as Yazoo was, but there was something about the small and slender hand that didn't make his skin crawl at all, the way the grabby, squeezing hands of adults always, always did.

Loz let his wispy haired doppelganger turn his head, dropping the hand with the tissue in it back into his lap. He didn't understand the sense of comfort emanating from that simple touch, but then Yazoo was turning their faces toward one another, leaning in and his tongue tipped out to taste Loz's tears.

The older boy let out a quiet sigh, serenity enveloping him for a brief moment with that little kitten lick, but then the door to the exam room was thrust open and orderlies had seized upon them, ripping the two boys apart from one another, dragging Yazoo to the door. Out in the hall, Professor Hojo waited with an expression of severe displeasure etched upon his narrow face, and as soon as he had the long-haired boy standing before him, his bony hand whipped out from behind his back and struck the child across his delicate face.

The force was enough to knock the boy to the floor, and Loz kicked at the kneecaps of the man holding him, trying to break free and help Yazoo. He didn't know what he could possibly do against the likes of Hojo, but he felt intensely and instinctively, rather suddenly, that Yazoo was more than a mere stranger to him. Though they'd been no more than ten short minutes in the same room together, Loz understood to the deepest whorl of his brain: We are linked.

The door to the exam room was shut though, cutting them off and as Yazoo was hauled up from the floor he could hear Loz bursting into tears again. Strangely unconcerned for himself and the furious adult jerking him up face to face, Yazoo merely thought, _Loz, don't cry._ He knew it too, that though it might mean going through Heaven, Planet, and the depths of Hell, they would see one another again.

But Loz wouldn't stop crying. The sobbing went on and on, and Yazoo couldn't even move to go to him. _Don't cry, Loz… Please, don't cry… Don't cry… Don't cry…_

"Loz…"

Yazoo's voice was small and thin, issued between his blanched lips as quiet as a sigh. His older brother might have actually missed it, save a hand on his shoulder squeezing softly to alert him. Picking his head up quickly from his hands, the weeping fighter choked on his tears, trying to stifle them as he searched frantically for any sign the severely wounded gunman would actually wake. "Yaz-" He couldn't even choke out the entire name, reaching out quickly to grasp his brother's icy hand.

"Don't…" he was trying to speak the mantra aloud, struggling out of his murky dreams to find Loz in this time, where he could actually reach him. Still indescribably weak and suffering from the severe blood-loss, clawing his way back to consciousness was proving difficult and he lapsed back into silent sleep another few moments, before the renewed violence of Loz's weeping roused him again.

At last his cloudy Makou eyes managed to part into sickle-moon slits, regarding Loz with groggy confusion, unable to remember what could have happened to upset his older brother like this, and why he himself was in so much dull pain…

"Yazoo!" The sight of those even partly opened eyes was all Loz had been waiting for, keeping constant vigil through the long hours of the day, into the night and now the small and crawling minutes of the barely encroaching dawn. He'd been going through fits of self-reproaching and panicked sobs, broken up by long periods of anxious silence once he'd spent his tears, but nothing could coax him away from the unconscious Yazoo's side.

Loz could have never forgiven himself if he'd actually lost Yazoo, had no idea how he'd have possibly gone on, and the terror that any moment his other half might swing for the worst and desert him utterly had been almost more than he could bear. It had been stupid to split up in the laboratories, too arrogant to think no harm could come to them. Loz had almost paid the ultimate price for being too inattentive.

"Loz… Don't cry…" He finally managed to complete the admonishment, a distant sense of wonder striking him as Loz only lost his composure again. There was a desperate sort of laugh paired with the sobs this time, and if he hadn't feared hurting his friend, Loz would have hugged him.

"Gomen…" Loz apologized, wiping at his eyes with his sweater sleeve before he spoke again. "I thought I was going to lose you. I'm sorry, Yazoo! I wasn't there to help!"

It didn't help clearing up Yazoo's confusion, only deepened the perplexed sense he had of missing something vitally important. He truly could not think clearly enough to remember anything particularly, and gave up trying to puzzle it out for himself after a moment. Coming to the realization that he was drugged, he conceded to ask at last, "What happened…?"

"Elena of the TURKs shot you full of holes, and nearly bled you dry," a rich, pleasant voice issued from somewhere close, and now Yazoo made the first attempt to focus beyond Loz, just now noticing the chestnut haired man standing close at hand. Though his perception was still quite fuzzy, he could make out the strong, kind, bearded features and the clean lines of the suit worn by the unfamiliar business man. "My associate, Mr. Vincent Valentine interceded on your behalf, brought you here," he gestured to an indistinct crimson form, somewhere close to the high French windows halfway across the room, "And your brother was good enough to volunteer his own vitae to our medics, to secure your life."

Taking in his surroundings slowly, there was indeed an IV stand close beside him, semi-translucent vinyl bags hung above his head, blood and saline solution gradually finding their way into his veins via the long clear tubes and the plastic needles secured into the crook of his arm.

He was not, however, in any sort of hospital. Yazoo found himself laid out beneath the rich burgundy coverings of a large, soft four-poster bed inside a room of rich but tasteful, homey design, at least as far as he could make out, and occupied by only himself and the three others he'd noted before. Apparently whatever medics had been here had done their work and left him to these fellows' care. The lighting of the room was pleasantly low, and an actual oil lamp burned on the near by bed stand, with fragrant kerosene.

Satisfied with his assessment of his surroundings so far, Yazoo's mind finally moved on, and after a moment his voice caught up, continuing on to the next obvious point of question. "Where am I?" He searched the eyes of both his brother and the man, now just vaguely recalling the details of that dismal battle in the Healin Lodge as it was reminded to him, but unable to penetrate beyond that final shot and flash of blood deep red.

"My home, in the town of Kalm, just north of Midgar. I am Reeve Tuesti, former head of urban development for Shin-Ra, Inc. I resigned from the company two years ago, in regard to various irreconcilable differences. So you needn't concern yourself over my previous attachments to them."

"Alright…" Yazoo was quiet a moment, contemplative. Staying conscious was still difficult, let alone following an unbroken line of thought. But he was aware that he was greatly wounded, and other than Loz, had only strangers of unknown alliance collected about him. He could not afford to rest until he was certain of his and Loz's relative safety.

He watched the crimson figure across the room as he considered the situation, putting the pieces together, trying to bring the man into better focus. Yazoo was fairly positive he knew the other's identity, though: AVALANCHE's mysterious gunman, and now he had a name. Valentine. In a moment of unexpected clarity, he realized what that flash of scarlet had been… Suspicion rearing its serpentine head, he directed his next inquiry straight toward his apparent mysterious savior. "Then… Not to be ungrateful, but… _Why_ did you bring us here?"

"One can never atone for a sin, if he permits its evil to perpetuate." The wounded gunner's brows knit, not understanding the former TURK's rather cryptic reply. Vincent appeared not to notice, stepping away from the wall with a wraith-like grace to approach what had been converted from guest lodging to Yazoo's sick-bed. He was proving himself quite an enigma, one the younger brother was having a difficult time puzzling out for himself, especially through the fog of endorphins and pain killers.

Opiates aside, Yazoo knew this man had already thrice stood in their way, rescuing both the TURKs Tseng and Elena, then their niisan when Kadaj had meant to execute him, and Yazoo was certain he'd caught the flutter of that tattered crimson cape weaving through the cross-beams of Edge's unfinished construction, trying to help fell Kadaj's summon. Yet this Valentine had just as readily plucked Yazoo from the path of Elena's righteous vengeance, as though this sordid battle _had_ no lines of allegiance. He found himself watching the mercenary's approach with an anxious sort of anticipation, garnet eyes tracked by paraiba tourmaline.

"There are secrets that surround the two of you and your brother Kadaj. While they remain hidden they lay like poison seeping deeper, an unseen catalyst to evil and harm. I have my own hand in that poison's administration, and it has recently become all too apparent to me that I have not done enough in my attempts to counteract that." Vincent paused as the younger gunman's eyes suddenly flickered and the fighter Loz glanced up.

"Kadaj-?" Yazoo did not elaborate his inquiry, but it was clear enough that neither man yet knew their younger sibling's fate.

"Safe and well… If you were seeking him at Healin, Shin-Ra does not have him." Valentine assured, and for reasons Yazoo could not name for himself, he believed his strange, unorthodox rival at his word. He permitted the other to continue, with out demanding further detail. "There are things that I must tell you, something I must show you… But not now. Elena is an exceptional marksman, you will need time to heal."

The silver haired youth did not protest this by any means. He still did not understand the ex-TURK and his vague, knowing statements, but in his current condition reason could not be trusted over intuition. Though he couldn't have explained why, Yazoo believed that he and Loz were safe here, and his only answer now was a deep, exhausted sigh. He squeezed his brother's strong hand lightly, giving him a fragile smile as means to convey these thoughts to him.

"I have to sleep now," Yazoo offered, to stem Loz's anxious fretting. Looking up to Reeve Tuesti, who all this time had stood quietly by, he fought the reaching grasp of sleep long enough to softly ask, "Take care of Loz, okay?" Then surrendered himself to dream.

**Author's Remarks:** There, I did it, and I'm sure you all knew I was going to, too. He's alive, if a little worse for wear, but I'm still not done with him yet. I need the pretty, long-haired bastard, so, there. Happy?

Did anyone out there figure out that Vincent had rescued him before this chapter was up? I wasn't sure if it was too vague an allusion, but either way, I'll clear it all up better next time I get around to Elena. Hee hee, fun with TURKs.

But, now, I've finished this chapter, and I made it to level 27 just inside the Mythril Mines, talked the Zolom into giving up Beta. It's bed time. :3

P.S. Oh, yeah! Akemashite Omedetou! (Or for you unilinguals out there: Happy New Year!)

**Translations:**

"Nande naiteiru no?" – "Why are you crying?"


	18. License to Kill

Elena sat in the exam room, an ice pack pressed to the back of her head, the blinds drawn tightly closed. The orderly who stood by looking over her charts was fidgety and nervous, still expecting at any moment the monstrous Leviathan would come slithering around the corner and crush the two of them, a sandwich between flimsy cinderblock walls. The summon had disappeared with the summoner, though, and now Healin could try to scrape itself back together. Those doctors who were unharmed or minimally scathed were coming to the aid of fallen staff and patients who were now even worse off than when they'd checked in. The death-toll was going to be exceptionally impressive, and was certain to continue to rise. Healin was not stocked with enough blood and surgeons to possibly save everyone…

All around executive decisions were being made - who should live and who should die. And for some reason Elena had a nurse all to herself even though all she'd suffered were a few well-earned bruises and a bump on the head. Finally becoming irritated with his mouse-like scampering about the little room, Elena lost her temper and cursed him out the door. "Shouldn't you be resuscitating some one!" The shouting felt good, emotionally, but a moment later there came another stabbing pain at her temple and she dropped back into the half-propped exam chair.

For a few blessed moments she was left to herself, able to drift, unthinking in the quiet, before the soft pad of expensive leather shoes down the hall reached her ears. She opened her dilated hazel eyes the ever so smallest crack, enough to see the general outline of the two suits that entered: one pristine white, and one so dark a navy blue it was damn near black. Just like hers. Only cleaner.

"Tseng-san. Shachou." She greeted them quietly, hoping to set the volume for the conversation by her own soft words. Tseng would likely be good enough to oblige. Actually neither man was the sort to regularly raise his voice. They both came off much more dangerous the lower their voices got.

"Elena…" Her superior was immediately at her side, inspecting her condition. He trusted her in a fight, implicitly, but once it was all over and done with it seemed as though he let go of his professional bearing and permitted himself fret. It had only gotten worse since they'd come back from the Forgotten City, but then that was to be expected. She found it touching, and gratifying, actually. It seemed to Tseng she was an equal and an individual both at once.

"I'm alright," she assured him, her voice fittingly steady. "Drugged, a Sleep. I let my guard down and Valentine hit me square in the face. Sneaky bastard. He came from the upper floor, through one of the holes Leviathan left in the ceiling."

For a moment Tseng looked surprised to hear this. After the gallant rescue from their captivity at the hands of the silver haired men, Tseng had almost assumed that Vincent was acting on old TURK loyalties, and maybe he had been, then, but now…? "And you had Yazoo, right there, point blank?"

"Point. Blank." Elena shot off an imaginary bullet from the tip of her index finger. "I caught the movement above my head and shot upward instead. Of course I missed Valentine by a mile. By then I was sneezing Sleep dust and he'd swept the little fuck right out from under me. I have no idea where they went, no clue what the hell Valentine would want with him." Elena sighed, disappointed in herself, confused with the situation, but not entirely surprised.

The TURKs were pretty well aware that Vincent Valentine could be considered an Elite's Elite. It wasn't really known _what_ Hojo had done to him, but the deranged scientist hadn't even been able to dispose of his own trial-run, and save the long hair and tattered crimson wardrobe, Mr. Valentine didn't look any different than the photograph in his file (which had been sealed, of course, but what did that matter to the TURKs? Internal espionage was just one of the perks, a routine exercise, really.) Not a day older, at all.

"And Loz has disappeared with them, as well…" Rufus interjected quietly, thinking. "I want those two detained, as soon as possible. Once you are fit to leave this facility, Elena, I want you and Tseng to locate them and find a way to bring them back while Kadaj is conveniently out of the way. Unfortunately as a team they've proven a bit too much for us, but Yazoo is wounded and Loz cannot act on his own volition. Provided we can find a way around our dubious friend, Mr. Valentine, there should be no better time than now to get them back in hand."

Rufus turned and made his way back to the exam room door. He paused a moment through, considering, and when he'd made up his mind he looked over his shoulder to the trustworthy pair of TURKs once more. "And under no circumstances permit them to reunite with our dear Kadaj… He was, unfortunately, able to attain the head of Jenova… I don't even want to consider what their reunion might mean…"

Elena permitted herself a small smile beneath the icepack. "Then your permission, Sir?"

"You have it." Rufus answered her curtly. "Whether they engage you or not, you may kill them if need be."

Tseng could hear Elena, almost purring like an expectant lioness, and could picture her already mentally browsing through their impressive armoury.

**Author's Remarks:** IT LIVES! Hehehe! I bet the second round of interest this hibernating story is enjoying owes itself to the English Advent Children release? May I just say Dubbing SATAN! Ewww! And the subtitles on that puppy? Not much better. :P I'm still going by my personal interpretation. The SHM are still going to be "Avatars" not "Remnants" (WtF?oO) and all the movie-line references will be my translations as well. "Uragirimono nan da yo" does NOT mean "He's what you'd call a Black Sheep." Close, but no cigar. So there! I'll make notes of the differences when necessary.

**Translations:** None this chapter. My brain is utterly fried. I can't think in coherent Japanese. (Must now go to work for the next five hours and speak nothing but Japanese.) Kill me… TT


End file.
